Personal data of South Korean president Lee Jae Myung, and of another 167 senior officials linked to the Presidency, have ended up published online following an information leak, according to what the authorities of South Korea have confirmed.
The South Korean public broadcaster KBS reported that the leaked file contains a complete list of passengers, with 168 names, dates of birth, passport numbers and their expiration date, as well as the positions they hold, corresponding to a flight of the South Korean presidential plane between Korea and Belgium. On that trip were the head of state, members of his team and a group of journalists.
According to these data, the list would be linked to an official trip by Lee to Belgium, Italy and France last June, and would have been published on June 2, even before the tour began.
The presidential office has acknowledged that it is aware of what happened and has stressed that measures have already been adopted. "We were aware of the content of the news before its publication and we have taken measures in this regard" both from the Presidency and from other agencies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it explained, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.
"We take this matter very seriously and are thoroughly investigating the circumstances of this leak from several perspectives," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson cited by Yonhap pointed out. "We will take the necessary measures depending on the results," he added.