“Passports for President Lee and his wife reissued” ... Foreign Ministry: “Leak, not hacking, is more likely”

[Financial News] The passports of President Lee Jae Myung and his wife, whose personal information was exposed in what was the worst-ever personal data leak, were promptly reissued. In addition, the passports of all 168 people aboard Air Force One, including the presidential couple, will be reissued. The Foreign Ministry believes the incident resulted from an internal leak, not external hacking, and has asked police to investigate.
On the 3rd, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Du-sun said at a regular briefing, “The passports for the presidential couple have been issued, and measures to smoothly reissue passports for other individuals are also being carried out swiftly.”
The Foreign Ministry is leaning toward a leak rather than hacking in connection with the incident. Investigative authorities are conducting a comprehensive and in-depth examination of PCs, emails and other materials related to the matter.
Spokesperson Park said that an investigation was underway, adding, “Considering traces related to hacking, such as the document’s creation and transmission routes, as well as various other circumstances, we are currently leaning toward a leak.” It was reported that investigators are now tracing how the leaked Excel file left the Foreign Ministry and where it went.
The Foreign Ministry did not, however, clearly answer when it became aware of the leak or which ministry shared the Excel file. In response, spokesperson Park said only, “The passenger list is managed as a security document, and we at the Foreign Ministry handle the material accordingly.”
As the personal information of 168 people—including the presidential couple, aides and reporters—was exposed online for a full five months, concerns have even been raised that it may have reached hostile countries such as North Korea. Asked about the possibility of the information being misused, the Foreign Ministry said, “We have not yet identified any cases of it being misused.” 

[email protected] Kim Kyung-soo Reporter