What personal information about President Lee Jae Myung’s Europe-trip delegation was exposed on VirusTotal?

The file listed 168 people, including Lee and first lady Kim Hea Kyung, and contained their names, affiliations, positions, dates of birth and passport details. The group also included senior officials, presidential security personnel and journalists covering the presidential office.

How might the personal data of Lee Jae Myung’s Europe-trip delegation have leaked?

Officials said the exposure was believed to have happened while documents related to the trip were being handled, rather than through hacking. Investigators are examining possible involvement by a ministry-hired security-check contractor and a document exchange between the Korean Embassy in Belgium and Belgian authorities.

What steps did South Korea take after the presidential delegation’s personal data was exposed?

The foreign ministry removed the leaked information from VirusTotal, arranged new passports for those affected and began checking computers and email accounts connected to the trip. It is investigating with police and other relevant agencies and said it would explain its findings once the probe is complete.

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

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Summary

South Korean authorities are investigating the exposure of personal information belonging to President Lee Jae Myung and 167 members of his Europe-trip delegation, including whether an outside contractor was involved. 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. Officials said the leak was believed to have occurred during document handling rather than through hacking. The foreign ministry removed the information, arranged new passports for those affected and is investigating with police and other agencies.

Key Facts

The exposed file contained names, affiliations, positions, dates of birth and passport details for Lee, first lady Kim Hea Kyung and 166 others.
VirusTotal allows uploaded files to be downloaded by paid members.
Investigators are examining whether the information leaked through a ministry-hired security-check contractor or during document exchanges between the Korean Embassy in Belgium and Belgian authorities.
The foreign ministry is checking computers and email accounts related to the trip and investigating allegations that other diplomatic documents were also uploaded to the website.
First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and Belgian Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Theodora Gentzis were expected to discuss bilateral cooperation and likely communicate about the leak at a Seoul meeting on Friday.

By Yonhap

Published Nov 6, 2026 11:29 am KST

President Lee Jae Myung, left front, and first lady Kim Hea Kyung walk after disembarking from the presidential aircraft, the Code One, upon its arrival at Melsbroek Air Base in Brussels, June 9, for a visit to Belgium. Yonhap

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.

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