Gov’t probing ‘all possibilities’ in leak of personal data of President Lee, Europe trip entourage

Authorities are investigating all possibilities surrounding the leak of personal information of President Lee Jae Myung and 167 members of his delegation for a trip to Europe in June, including whether an outside contractor was involved, officials said Friday.

The presidential office and the foreign ministry said Tuesday that they had discovered the exposure of personal information after a file containing details of 168 people aboard the presidential aircraft was uploaded to VirusTotal, a website used to scan files for malware.

The file contained the names, affiliations, positions, dates of birth and passport details of Lee, first lady Kim Hea Kyung and 166 others, including senior officials, presidential security personnel and journalists covering the presidential office.

“We are thoroughly investigating the circumstances from multiple angles, keeping all possibilities open,” the ministry said in a statement.

“We take the possibility of leaks involving diplomatic materials very seriously and are conducting an investigation in cooperation with the police and other relevant agencies,” it said, adding that it would transparently explain its findings once probe results are available.

The file was uploaded to the website on June 2, about a week before Lee’s trip to Belgium, France and Italy, and remained accessible for about five months. VirusTotal allows uploaded files to be downloaded by paid members.

A ministry official said the leak was believed to have occurred during the handling of documents related to the trip, rather than through hacking.

Among the possibilities being examined are a leak through an outside contractor hired by the ministry for security checks and a leak during the exchange of documents between the Korean Embassy in Belgium and Belgian authorities.

The ministry has said it is checking computers and email accounts related to the presidential trip and has taken steps to prevent further damage, including removing the leaked information from the website and arranging new passports for those affected.

Authorities are also looking into allegations that other diplomatic documents were uploaded to the website.

The issue is expected to be discussed at a meeting between First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and Theodora Gentzis, Belgium’s foreign ministry secretary-general, in Seoul on Friday, another official said.

“Various ways to promote cooperation between the two countries will be discussed, and there will likely be communication on the data leak incident as well,” he said.