S. Korea bank eases ache of heartbroken soldiers

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SEOUL (AP) -- A South Korean bank is offering to help soldiers dumped by their sweethearts while away on mandatory military service by providing special interest rates for jilted troops.

Soldiers who can show letters or e-mail to a bank clerk proving their breakup can receive a new deposit plan with better rates and waived service fees, said Nonghyup Bank official Gil Yoon-jung yesterday. The offer began Monday and lasts through September.

Troops will get as much as a 0.3 percentage point premium a year for proving they are no longer romantically attached.

All young men in South Korea are required to serve two years in the military, as the country remains technically at war with neighboring North Korea. The Korean War ended in a 1953 cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty.

The new plan will also be offered to female soldiers, family members of professional troops, wounded veterans, and trainees.

Nonghyup Bank said it will also donate 0.1 percent of the new clients' balances for dead war heroes and wounded veterans.