South Korea investigates leak of President Lee’s passport details

South Korea announced on Tuesday that it is reissuing passports for 168 individuals whose sensitive personal information had been leaked online, including President Lee Jae Myung and his wife, First Lady Kim Hee-kyung. The foreign ministry said the passports will be issued swiftly to ensure the smooth reissuance of affected individuals, including the president and first lady.

Police have launched a preliminary investigation into the leak, which involved personal data of the presidential couple, cabinet members, senior officials, security personnel, and reporters accompanying the presidential delegation. The National Police Agency began investigating after finding passenger information and sensitive personal data related to the presidential aircraft posted online.

The foreign ministry immediately requested an investigation by relevant authorities and is collaborating with police and other agencies to determine how the leak occurred. They are also conducting a comprehensive review, including technical inspections of computers and email accounts connected to President Lee's June overseas trip.

The exposed data included Korean and English names, affiliations, job titles, dates of birth, passport numbers, and passport issuance and expiration dates. The file had been available on a paid security-related website since June 2, long before President Lee's departure for the trip and remained accessible for months. While there is speculation that an outside party may have been involved, investigators have not yet established the circumstances or identified the responsible individuals.

In response, President Lee has called for the establishment of a powerful government-wide cybersecurity body to coordinate functions that are currently fragmented across agencies. He argued that the existing security system, which focuses on inspections and post-incident responses, is limited and urged the formation of a comprehensive preventive system to safeguard public services and critical infrastructure.

Additionally, Lee suggested the creation of a government-wide task force that would involve both the public and private sectors to oversee and coordinate security functions.