Personal Information of All South Korean Diplomats Likely Compromised in Hacking Attack

A hacking incident has occurred in which the personal information of the entire body of South Korean diplomats is estimated to have been leaked.

The breach, which took place at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy's online education system, is estimated to have exposed up to 10,000 records, including information on retired Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel as well as staff dispatched to overseas diplomatic missions from other central government agencies.

A Foreign Ministry official stated today (July 21) that "approximately 10,000 pieces of data are stored in the system."

In a press release yesterday, the Foreign Ministry announced that an unidentified attacker compromised the server of the online education system at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, which operates under the ministry, and maintained access from April to May of last year until February of this year.

The ministry did not disclose the exact number of times the attacker accessed the system, with the official only stating that it occurred "frequently."

The official noted that "sensitive personal information such as resident registration numbers, mobile phone numbers, and home addresses were not present (on the server)," adding that "there may be some duplicate entries."

It has been determined that the system contained information regarding Foreign Ministry headquarters staff, officials and administrative staff at overseas diplomatic missions, and resident officers.

The leaked data reportedly included names, user IDs, email addresses, and encrypted passwords, as well as information on job titles and affiliated departments.

The government has previously only partially disclosed the appointments of high-ranking diplomats above a certain grade through press releases.

The full list of diplomats and the status of personnel working at overseas missions have never been made public, but it appears this information was leaked through this hacking incident.

As overseas diplomatic missions employ not only diplomats but also staff from other ministries in intelligence and security fields, there is a high possibility that information on government officials in the national security sector has also been compromised.

The Foreign Ministry official stated that it is difficult to confirm whether all data stored in the education system was leaked, noting that the 10,000 figure is an upper-limit estimate, and added, "We recognize this as a situation not unrelated to national security."

Furthermore, the official added, "We need to further determine whether there are duplicate individuals (within the 10,000 records)," but noted, "We assume that almost all personnel at the Foreign Ministry headquarters are included."

The government appears to be considering the possibility of an attack by hacking organizations from countries such as North Korea or China.

The official said, "There is currently insufficient technical analysis to determine the culprit," and added, "We are not ruling out any possibilities, including hacking organizations backed by other nations."

The Korea National Diplomatic Academy's online education system was reportedly created in 2022, when COVID-19 was widespread.

Regular security checks were conducted, including at the time of the system's launch.

The Foreign Ministry explained, "This attack exploited a zero-day vulnerability—a security flaw unknown even to the software manufacturer at the time—to gain access and utilize legitimate software privileges, making it difficult to detect through conventional methods. There were limitations in responding because no security updates were available to patch the flaw at that time."

The system is currently shut down, and an investigation by relevant authorities is underway.

The official stated that no decision has been made on whether or when the system will be reopened.

The Foreign Ministry announced yesterday through a notice on its website that it has notified the individuals affected by the data breach.

(Photo: Screenshot from Korea National Diplomatic Academy Twitter, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.