Personal Information of President Lee, First Lady, Ministers and Blue House Staff Exposed... Blue House: "Aware in Advance, Took Action"

Information on 168 passengers aboard Air Force One for European trip exposed
Passport numbers, dates of birth and other details posted for five months
Foreign Ministry: "We regard this as extremely serious... investigating the circumstances"

The personal information of 168 people, including President Lee Jae Myung and First Lady Kim Hye Kyung, Cabinet members and Blue House staff, was exposed online for about five months, it has belatedly emerged. Critics say the exposure of not only the passport numbers of the president and senior government officials but also the personal information of security personnel revealed vulnerabilities in the presidential protection and security system. The Blue House said it had learned of the matter in advance and taken action.

President Lee Jae Myung and First Lady Kim Hye Kyung disembark from Air Force One after it arrived at Melsbroek Air Base in Brussels, Belgium, on June 9 (local time). June 10, 2026. Yonhap News Agency.

According to media reports, including one by KBS, a file titled "Passenger List (Republic of Korea-Belgium)" was posted in June on a paid security-related website. The file reportedly contained personal information about senior government officials, including President Lee and his wife, then-Blue House Policy Chief Kim Yongbeom, National Security Office Director Wi Seonglak, Prime Minister Han Seongsook, and Ministers Bae Kyunghoon, Cho Hyun and Kim Sunghwan.

The file also contained information on employees of the Blue House and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Presidential Security Service agents, medical staff and journalists accompanying the president on the trip. A total of 168 people were found to have had their personal information exposed.

The exposed information included names in Korean and English, affiliations, positions, dates of birth, passport numbers, and passport issue and expiration dates. The list is believed to be of people who boarded Air Force One during President Lee's trip to Belgium, Italy and France in June 2026.

The file was reportedly posted on June 2, 2026, a week before President Lee departed for the trip on June 9. Paid members of the site could download the file without any particular restrictions, and it is believed to have remained accessible to the public for about five months, until recently.

The website provides a service that checks computer files and internet addresses for malware infections. It has been suggested that the file may have been uploaded while someone was checking whether a file related to the trip was infected with malware. However, it has not yet been confirmed who uploaded the file, under what circumstances, or whether an external hack was involved.

Critics say the incident could extend beyond a simple exposure of personal information and become an issue involving presidential security and national security, because the identities of senior officials and security personnel accompanying the president on an overseas trip were made public. There are also concerns that the passenger list, which was posted before the president's departure, could have posed a security risk at the time.

In a statement to the media on the night of November 2, the Blue House said, "We became aware of the reported matter in advance and took response measures. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies plan to take further action."

However, the Blue House did not provide details on exactly when it became aware that the personal information had been exposed or what response measures it had taken.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which handles matters related to Air Force One operations and protocol for summit diplomacy, has also begun investigating the circumstances.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "We regard this matter as extremely serious and are currently conducting an in-depth, multifaceted investigation into the circumstances. We plan to take the necessary measures based on the results of the investigation." The file is reportedly no longer accessible. However, given that the personal information was exposed for an extended period, the investigation is expected to focus on whether third parties downloaded it, the possibility of actual misuse, and responsibility for managing the data.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.