It was found that the hacking incident in which personal details of up to 10,000 public officials, including diplomats, were leaked was not reported to the Personal Information Protection Commission until about five months later. Reports to Minister Cho Hyun of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Office of National Security at the presidential office were also delayed.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on the 22nd, "At the time in February when signs of abnormal access (hacking) were detected, there was no report to the Minister or the Office of National Security," adding, "After a comprehensive investigation identified the overall picture, there was a report to the Minister, and after consultations with related agencies and an analysis of legal and policy implications, a recent report to the national security office was made." The hacking incident was reported to Minister Cho in April, and it was only recently reported to the Office of National Security at the presidential office.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it reported on the 19th to the Personal Information Protection Commission that personal information had been leaked due to the hacking. This was five months after signs of hacking were detected. Under the Personal Information Protection Act, when a personal information controller becomes aware of a personal information leak, it must report it to the Personal Information Protection Commission within 72 hours. In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "Cyberattacks and intrusions are unprecedented matters," and added, "Given unavoidable reasons not unrelated to national security, we exercised caution in related analysis and review, which took considerable time."
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Korea National Diplomatic Academy under the ministry was hit by a cyberattack, leaking the names, IDs, emails, and passwords of foreign service officials, government ministry attachés posted overseas, and administrative staff at missions abroad. The leaked information is estimated at 10,000 items. However, the ministry explained that sensitive information such as photos, resident registration numbers, mobile phone numbers, and addresses did not leak.