South Korean president, first lady and national ​security adviser passport information leaked online along with 165 other people?

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's passport details have leaked online along with personal details of 167 others like First Lady Kim Hea Kyung, national security adviser Wi Sung-lac and presidential security staff. The personal details were uploaded onto a paid malware scanning website in June in the form of an Excel document, a report by South Korean broadcaster KBS said. The passport numbers, dates of birth and personal details of government officials, presidential aides, security staff and journalists linked with the president's international travel were leaked. This happened around five months ago, the broadcaster said.

How did it leak?

The personal details were uploaded onto a paid website on the internet for scanning malware, the report said. The Excel document was named Passenger List (Republic of Korea-Belgium) and contained details of passengers travelling on presidential plane Air Force One.


The file was uploaded onto the website on June 2 roughly one week before the presidential party left. It is still unclear who uploaded the file, how they obtained the information and if anyone downloaded it when it was online.

What and whose details were leaked?

The document reportedly contained personal details of 168 people. These people are:

• President Lee Jae Myung
• First Lady Kim Hea Kyung
• National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac
• Former Presidential Policy Office Chief Kim Yong-beom
• Deputy Prime Minister and Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon
• Foreign Minister Cho Hyun
• Former SMEs and Startups Minister Han Seong-sook
• Cheong Wa Dae officials and presidential aides
• Presidential Security Service staff and bodyguards
• Journalists

The details reportedly had Korean and English names, positions, organisations, dates of birth, passport numbers and the passport issued and expiry dates.

What has the South Korean presidential office said?

Cheong Wa Dae said on November 2 that they had taken action after the news of the leak. "We will take further action with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant authorities," they told the media.