South Korea: Presidential office holds emergency meeting over leak of personal data of president, trip entourage

Seoul: South Korea's presidential office held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to address the leak of personal information of President Lee Jae Myung and members of the entourage that accompanied him on his overseas trip in June.

The meeting, presided over by presidential chief of staff Lim Kwang-hyun, followed news reports that a computer file containing personal data of Lee's entourage for his June overseas trip had been uploaded to a publicly accessible website that same month.

Those affected also included the first lady, then presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, government ministers, presidential officials and journalists, according to earlier reports.

A total of 168 people reportedly had their personal information exposed in the leak, Yonhap news agency reports.

The leaked personal information reportedly included dates of birth and passport numbers.

During Tuesday's meeting, the presidential chief of staff called the leak a serious incident that cannot be overlooked, stressing the need to investigate the exact extent of the data breach and any damage related to it.

Lim said an investigation should also be carried out to determine who was responsible.

The official also asked relevant government agencies to review the security management system for presidential overseas tours and to devise effective countermeasures, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

The foreign ministry said it is conducting an investigation into the incident in cooperation with relevant agencies and taking steps to prevent further damage.

"The ministry is conducting a comprehensive and in-depth investigation, including technical inspections of computers and email accounts related to events during the president's overseas trip in June," foreign ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon told a press briefing.

"We have also taken measures to prevent further damage, including having the leaked information deleted from the website in question and checking for any other instances of personal information exposure," he said.

The ministry is also arranging for passports to be reissued to all those affected, including Lee and the first lady, and pledged to take measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

Park said the incident was currently being treated as a "leak" rather than a hacking incident, adding that all materials related to presidential overseas trips are managed as classified documents.

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