S.Korea police investigating server outages at major TV networks

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police are investigating network outages at major broadcasters and a large bank on Wednesday, with a major network services provider alleging that its system was hacked.

Servers at television networks YTN, MBC and KBS were affected as well as Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup, two major banks, the police and government said. They did not comment on the possible causes of the outages.

A spokesman at LG Uplus said the company believes its network was hacked. The firm provides internet-related services to the broadcaster.

Initial speculation centred on a potential hacking attack by North Korea, which has hacked South Korean institutions before. But South Korea's internet security agency has said it has yet to find any evidence of external attacks, YTN said.

Local shares extended losses following the initial reports of outages to end down 1 percent. The won and local bonds were little moved following the news.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park and Joyce Lee; Additional Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Lee Changho; Writing by Se Young Lee; Editing by David Chance)