How did the personal information of President Lee Jae Myung’s Europe-trip entourage become exposed?

The file was uploaded to VirusTotal on June 2, about a week before Lee’s trip, and remained accessible for about five months. Officials believed the leak may have occurred while documents related to the trip were being handled, rather than through hacking; investigators were examining whether it happened during document exchanges between the Korean Embassy in Belgium and Belgian authorities.

Whose information was included in the leaked file, and what details did it contain?

The file covered 168 people aboard the presidential aircraft, including President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hea Kyung. It contained their names, affiliations, positions, dates of birth and passport details.

Korea, Belgium discuss leak of personal data of President Lee, Europe trip entourage

Q: What did South Korea and Belgium agree to do about the leak of President Lee Jae Myung’s entourage’s personal data?

At a Seoul meeting, First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and Belgian Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Theodora Gentzis discussed the leak and agreed to continue communicating closely. Seoul said it was investigating the matter.

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Summary

South Korea and Belgium agreed to maintain close communication over the leak of personal information belonging to President Lee Jae Myung and members of his entourage during his June trip to Europe. First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and Belgian Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Theodora Gentzis discussed the matter at a meeting in Seoul on Friday. Seoul said it is investigating the leak, which officials believe may have occurred during the handling of trip documents rather than through hacking. Authorities are also examining whether the information was exposed during document exchanges between the Korean Embassy in Belgium and Belgian officials.

Key Facts

The exposed file contained personal information about 168 people aboard the presidential aircraft, including Lee and first lady Kim Hea Kyung.
The information included names, affiliations, positions, dates of birth and passport details.
The file was uploaded to VirusTotal on June 2, about a week before Lee’s trip to Belgium, France and Italy, and remained accessible for about five months.
The foreign ministry said it was investigating the incident and taking it seriously.

By Yonhap

Published Nov 12, 2026 4:50 pm KST

President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hea-kyung walk after disembarking from the presidential aircraft upon its arrival at Melsbroek Air Base in Brussels, June 9. Newsis

Korea and Belgium have discussed the leak of personal information belonging to President Lee Jae Myung and members of his entourage during his June trip to Belgium and other parts of Europe, and agreed to maintain close communication on the matter, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

The issue was discussed during a Seoul meeting between First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and Theodora Gentzis, secretary-general of Belgium's foreign ministry, held Friday, according to the ministry.

"During the meeting, ways to promote cooperation in various areas were discussed, and the data leak was also discussed," ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon told a press briefing in response to a reporter's question about possible cooperation between the two countries on the incident.

"We take this matter seriously and are conducting an investigation. The two sides agreed to continue communicating closely," Park added.

The leak came to light after a file containing personal information of 168 people aboard the presidential aircraft, including Lee and first lady Kim Hea Kyung, was uploaded to VirusTotal, a website used to scan files for malware.

The file, which included their names, affiliations, positions, dates of birth and passport details, was uploaded on June 2, about a week before Lee's trip to Belgium, France and Italy, and remained accessible for about five months.

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

Korean authorities are investigating various possibilities surrounding the leak, including whether it occurred during the exchange of documents between the Korean Embassy in Belgium and Belgian authorities, they added.

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