Cheong Wa Dae said Monday it had been aware of reports that a passenger manifest for Air Force One during President Lee Jae Myung's recent overseas trip had been exposed online. It said it had already taken steps to address the situation, with further action planned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.
A Cheong Wa Dae official made the statement in response to a KBS report that the personal information of 168 passengers aboard Air Force One during Lee's trip to the Group of Seven summit in June had been leaked.
According to the KBS report, a file containing the passenger list for "Republic of Korea Air Force One" was posted on a paid security-related website in June.
The file, titled "Passenger List (Republic of Korea–Belgium)," contained the names and personal details of senior government officials, including Lee and his spouse, then-Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom, National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, and then-ministers Bae Gyeong-hun, Jo Hyeon, Kim Sung-hwan and Han Seong-suk.
The exposed personal information included Korean and English names, organizational affiliations, titles, dates of birth, passport numbers, and passport issuance and expiration dates.
Beyond senior officials, the list contained the personal data of 168 people in total, including working-level staff from Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Presidential Security Service agents and members of the Cheong Wa Dae press pool.
sang@heraldcorp.com
