Technology and Scienceupdated 1h ago2 min read
South Korea Investigates Lee Jae-myung Passport Data Leak, Renews Passports for 168 Officials
“likely exposed through internal mishandling rather than a hack”
“Investigation is ongoing.”
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Passport data for 168 officials, including the president and first lady, leaked online. New passports issued for Lee Jae-myung, his wife, and 166 others.
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Passport data on VirusTotal
South Korea’s presidential office held an emergency meeting to discuss the leakage of personal data from President Lee Jae-myung’s passports and “more than 160 other officials” after a computer file containing data from Lee’s entourage during his foreign trip in June was uploaded to a website in the same month. Lim Kwang-hyeon, the head of the presidential office secretariat, chaired the meeting, and the secretariat head described the leak as a “serious incident that cannot be ignored” while urging agencies to investigate the scope and damage.
The Foreign Ministry said it was treating the incident as a “data leak” rather than a hacking or cyberattack, and it renewed the passports of those affected, including Lee, while removing the data from the website. Media reports cited data on 168 people disclosed in the leak, and the file remained accessible for about five months after being uploaded to the malware-checking platform VirusTotal in preparation for Lee’s trip to Europe.
Internal upload, not hacking
Hwang Seok-jin, a professor at Dongguk University’s Graduate School of International Information Security, said, “It is unlikely that a hacker who maliciously stole internal information uploaded it to a global sharing platform,” framing the exposure as more likely tied to internal mishandling. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon told reporters that “We view the incident as a data leak rather than a hacking incident,” and the ministry said it was investigating how the data was exposed while believing it was not an external cyberattack.
The file titled “Passenger list (Republic of Korea-Belgium)” was uploaded on June 2 before Lee departed for Europe on June 9 and remained accessible for months until recently. The Foreign Ministry was conducting technical inspections of computers and e-mail accounts used in connection with Lee’s trip and had taken steps to have the information removed from the website and prevent further exposure.
Security overhaul and passports
President Lee Jae-myung ordered the creation of a centralized national cybersecurity body after the operational leak exposed passport records for 168 members of a presidential delegation, and the directive followed confirmation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Korean National Police Agency. The Foreign Ministry removed the exposed file, checked for additional leaks, and reissued passports for affected individuals including Lee and his wife, while officials said no further dissemination had been identified.
“How can the presidential office claim to govern the nation when it cannot even protect the sensitive information of the head of state?”
Cheong Wa Dae held an emergency meeting chaired by presidential chief of staff Lim Kwang-hyun, who called the incident serious and ordered authorities to investigate the full extent of the breach, identify responsibility, and review security procedures for presidential overseas trips. People Power Party spokesperson Cho Yong-sool urged Lee to apologize, saying in a statement, “How can the presidential office claim to govern the nation when it cannot even protect the sensitive information of the head of state?” and demanding strict accountability for those responsible.