South Korean diplomats' personal data leaked in major cyberattack; North Korea suspected

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is investigating a significant data breach affecting its National Diplomatic Academy's online education system. The cyberattack resulted in the leak of personal information belonging to virtually all of South Korea's diplomats, both current and former.

Officials confirmed that a substantial amount of data was compromised, acknowledging the serious implications for national security. The leaked information includes names, user IDs, email addresses, and encrypted passwords of foreign service officials, overseas government representatives, and administrative staff at diplomatic missions. While sensitive personal details such as resident registration numbers, phone numbers, and addresses were reportedly not included, the scale of the breach is extensive, with up to 10,000 records potentially affected.

The government is exploring all possibilities regarding the perpetrator, including the potential involvement of North Korean hacking groups. However, officials stated that definitive technical analysis to pinpoint the attacker is still lacking. The cyberattack is believed to have occurred intermittently between April-May of last year and early February of this year, meaning the system was compromised for approximately nine to ten months.

Regarding the delay in public disclosure, the Ministry explained that the breach was only revealed after thorough investigation and consideration, given its connection to diplomatic and national security. The academy has since taken measures to block the infected servers and is working to understand the full scope of the incident.