S Korea-Belgium-personal data

SEOUL, Nov. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Belgium have discussed the leak of personal information belonging to President Lee Jae Myung and members of his entourage during his June trip to Belgium and other parts of Europe, and agreed to maintain close communication on the matter, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.

The issue was discussed during a Seoul meeting between First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and Theodora Gentzis, secretary-general of Belgium's foreign ministry, held Friday, according to the ministry.

"During the meeting, ways to promote cooperation in various areas were discussed, and the data leak was also discussed," ministry spokesperson Park Doo-soon told a press briefing in response to a reporter's question about possible cooperation between the two countries on the incident.

"We take this matter seriously and are conducting an investigation. The two sides agreed to continue communicating closely," Park added.

The leak came to light after a file containing personal information of 168 people aboard the presidential aircraft, including Lee and first lady Kim Hea Kyung, was uploaded to VirusTotal, a website used to scan files for malware.

The file, which included their names, affiliations, positions, dates of birth and passport details, was uploaded on June 2, about a week before Lee's trip to Belgium, France and Italy, and remained accessible for about five months.

Officials have said that the leak was believed to have occurred during the handling of documents related to the trip, rather than through hacking.

South Korean authorities are investigating various possibilities surrounding the leak, including whether it occurred during the exchange of documents between the South Korean Embassy in Belgium and Belgian authorities, they added.

(END)

[Copyright ⓒ K-VIBE. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution are prohibited.]