COVER STORY President, first lady to get new passports after personal data exposure

President Lee Jae Myung and first lady Kim Hea Kyung are having new passports issued after their passport and other personal information were leaked, the foreign ministry said, Tuesday.

The government and the police are investigating how the data was exposed, although they believe it was a leak, not an external cyberattack.

“The foreign ministry is swiftly taking measures to ensure the smooth reissuance of passports for all affected individuals, including the president and first lady,” ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon said during a briefing.

The measures came after it was known that sensitive personal information of 168 people who were aboard the presidential jet for Lee’s trip to Europe in June had been uploaded on a security-related paid website.

The leak affected not only the presidential couple but also ranking officials, including then-chief of staff for policy Kim Yong-beom, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, current Prime Minister Han Seong-sook and several Cabinet members, as well as senior officials from Cheong Wa Dae and the foreign ministry, security personnel and reporters traveling with the presidential delegation.

A local media outlet reported the previous day that a file titled “Passenger list (Republic of Korea-Belgium),” containing the information was uploaded on June 2, before Lee departed for Europe on June 9 and remained accessible for months until recently.

The exposed information reportedly contained Korean and English names, affiliations, job titles, dates of birth, passport numbers and passport issuance and expiration dates.

A foreign ministry official said the leaked spreadsheet appears to follow a format used by the ministry and that such documents are generally compiled by its protocol office, but noted that the file may have been altered after the original data was created, making it difficult to confirm it as an official ministry document.

"We view the incident as a data leak rather than a hacking incident," Park said.

The foreign ministry requested an investigation by relevant authorities immediately after discovering the leak and is working with police and other agencies to determine how it occurred, he said.

However, the spokesperson did not disclose exactly when and how the ministry discovered the leak and when it reported the incident to police, just adding that the authorities will investigate the cause and circumstances.

He said the ministry and relevant authorities are also conducting a broader review, including technical inspections of computers and email accounts used in connection with the president’s overseas trip in June.

The website provides a service to scan user-uploaded files for malicious code using multiple antivirus engines. As to whether a ministry official in charge of the information management uploaded the file to check for malicious code and just left it, Park only said, "Investigation is ongoing."

Regarding whether the ministry can upload such files on external internet networks, he just said all materials about presidential trips are treated as security documents.

The spokesman said the ministry had taken steps to have the information removed from the website and was checking whether any other personal data had been exposed in an effort to prevent further leaks.

Since the exposed data included key personnel who accompany the president in close proximity, including security agents, medical staff and food inspectors, the incident has also raised concerns over possible security implications.

The National Police Agency launched an investigation. 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.

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) stepped up criticism of the presidential office and called on Lee to apologize.

“How can the presidential office claim to govern the nation when it cannot even protect the sensitive information of the head of state?” PPP spokesperson Cho Yong-sool said in a statement Tuesday, urging a thorough investigation.

“President Lee Jae Myung should apologize for the lax discipline within the presidential office and hold those responsible strictly accountable. The public cannot entrust its safety to a presidential office that fails to uphold even the basic tenets of national security.”