South Korean police said on Tuesday they began a preliminary investigation into the online leak of personal information belonging to 168 people, including President Lee Jae Myung and his wife Kim Hea Kyung. The Korean National Police Agency said a file titled "Passenger list (South Korea-Belgium)" was posted in June on a paid security website and reportedly stayed accessible for about five months.
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean police said on Tuesday they had opened a preliminary investigation into the online leak of personal information belonging to 168 people, including President Lee Jae Myung and his wife Kim Hea Kyung.
SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean police said on Tuesday they had opened a preliminary investigation into the online leak of personal information belonging to 168 people, including President Lee Jae Myung and his wife Kim Hea Kyung.
The Korean National Police Agency said a file titled "Passenger list (South Korea-Belgium)" was posted in June on a paid, security-related website that lets users scan files or web addresses for malicious code. Members can download files uploaded to the platform.
Police suspect the file, which held details of people aboard the presidential aircraft during Lee's visits to Belgium, Italy and France in June, was uploaded as it was being scanned. It reportedly stayed accessible for about five months after being uploaded on June 2, ahead of the trip, and is no longer available.
Police said the information included names in Korean and English, affiliations, job titles, birth dates, passport numbers and passport issuance and expiration dates. Besides the president and his wife, the file listed key government officials, staff at Cheong Wa Dae and the foreign ministry, members of the Presidential Security Service and journalists covering the presidential office.
Cheong Wa Dae said it took responsive measures once it learned of the leak, and the foreign ministry and other agencies plan further actions.
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