[Anchor]

We bring you new reporting regarding the personal information leak concerning the presidential delegation, which includes President Lee Jae-myung and the First Lady. SBS has learned that government authorities have detected indications that the personal data files may have been leaked through an external contractor commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to handle security monitoring services. It was also confirmed that other diplomacy-related documents were posted on the website where the delegation files were discovered.

Reporter Kang Min-u reports exclusively.

[Reporter]

The leaked personal data file of the presidential delegation is understood to have been drafted by the Office of the Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Previously, the government had been tracking the transmission path of the file, suspecting an issue arose while it was being delivered to Belgium's Ministry of Foreign Affairs via the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Belgium and the European Union.

According to SBS reporting, the government has detected signs indicating that the file in question was leaked through an external contractor responsible for security monitoring of the Foreign Ministry's internal network and systems.

The Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Cyber Security Center outsources tasks to specialized private contractors for operating security control systems, monitoring, and malware analysis. The file in question may have been uploaded via this contractor onto an overseas paid website used to scan for malicious code.

When asked by SBS about the specific circumstances, the contractor stated, "It is difficult to provide an answer as the matter is currently under investigation."

Police had previously launched a formal investigation into the case on suspicion of violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

On the malware inspection website where the presidential delegation files were discovered, records indicating that another diplomacy-related document was registered were confirmed today (November 4).

Posted eight months ago in March, this document is presumed to be a bilateral meeting request regarding South Korea and the International Court of Justice, and the Foreign Ministry is investigating the source of the document.

If it is ultimately determined that this personal data leak occurred through the contractor in charge of cybersecurity monitoring, an expanded investigation appears inevitable to confirm the possibility of further leaks.

(Video by Cho Chun-dong and Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing by Jang Hyun-ki | Design by Park Cheon-woong)