Personal Information of Presidential Delegation Leaked... Cheong Wa Dae Holds Emergency Meeting: "Serious Matter; Thoroughly Investigate Management Responsibility"

Emergency meeting chaired by Chief of Staff Lim Kwanghyun
Personal information of 168 people, including the presidential couple, exposed
Investigate leak and damage; conduct comprehensive review of security system

Cheong Wa Dae has held an emergency meeting over the leak of personal information belonging to 168 members of the presidential travel delegation, including President Lee Jaemyung and his wife, and vowed to thoroughly investigate how the information was leaked and who was responsible for managing it. Because the exposed information included the identities and passport numbers of security personnel as well as the president and senior government officials, the government is treating the incident as a broader problem involving the national security system, rather than as a simple personal data breach.

New Chief of Staff Lim Gwanghyun delivers remarks at a meeting of senior secretaries chaired by President Lee Jaemyung at Cheong Wa Dae on Oct. 15, 2026. Yonhap News.

Kang Yujeong, Cheong Wa Dae’s senior presidential spokesperson, said in a written briefing on Nov. 3, “Cheong Wa Dae held an emergency meeting this morning, chaired by Chief of Staff Lim Gwanghyun, regarding the leak of personal information belonging to the presidential travel delegation.”

At the meeting, Lim said, “The leak of personal information belonging to the presidential travel delegation is a serious matter that cannot be taken lightly.” He stressed the need to thoroughly investigate how the information was leaked, the scope of the exposure and whether any actual harm had occurred, and to clearly establish the relevant agencies’ responsibility for managing it. Lim also instructed the agencies concerned to conduct a comprehensive review of security management for presidential trips and devise effective measures to prevent a recurrence.

The emergency meeting came a day after reports emerged that personal information belonging to passengers on Air Force One, the presidential aircraft, had been exposed en masse online. KBS reported on Nov. 2 that a file titled “Passenger List (Republic of Korea-Belgium)” had been posted on a paid security-related website in June. The file reportedly contained personal information about senior government officials at the time, including President Lee, First Lady Kim Hye-kyung, then-Presidential Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom, National Security Office Director Wi Seong-lac and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.

Personal information belonging to a total of 168 people was reportedly exposed, including employees of Cheong Wa Dae and the Foreign Ministry, security personnel from the Presidential Security Service, and journalists accompanying the presidential delegation. The exposed information included Korean and English names, affiliations and positions, as well as sensitive identifying information such as dates of birth, passport numbers, and passport issue and expiration dates.

The list is believed to contain information about passengers on Air Force One during President Lee’s trip to Belgium, Italy and France in June. Security concerns were also raised after reports that the file had been posted on June 2, before the trip began, and that paid members of the site and others could download it without significant restrictions.

Some have pointed out that this incident differs from an ordinary personal data breach because it exposed the identities of senior officials and security personnel involved in a presidential trip. The fallout could grow depending on how widely the information spread to third parties and whether it was misused. In a notice to the media the previous evening, Cheong Wa Dae said, “We became aware of the reported information in advance and took responsive measures. The Foreign Ministry and other agencies will take further action.”

The Foreign Ministry also said it viewed the matter seriously and had launched an investigation. Since the ministry is involved in preparing and managing passenger lists for the presidential aircraft, key areas of inquiry are expected to include the specific route by which the information was leaked outside the government, who had access to it, and whether security management procedures were followed. Investigators will also need to determine whether the incident resulted from inadequate internal management or from unauthorized external access.

In particular, the fact that the leak became known outside the government about five months after the information was posted online is expected to make the date when the leak was first discovered and the adequacy of the subsequent response key issues. It will also be necessary to determine what measures Cheong Wa Dae took beforehand and whether it took steps to prevent further dissemination of the exposed government information.

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