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Wi Sung-lac, Director of National Security, gives a pre-trip briefing on the upcoming visit to the US and South America at the Chunchugwan press center in the Blue House on July 22 / Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Wi Sung-lac, Director of National Security at the Blue House, stated on July 22 regarding the Foreign Ministry hacking incident, "There is no attempt to conceal or deceive." Addressing allegations of a cover-up or downplaying of the incident, he explained that external announcement was delayed because security-first measures were necessary.

Speaking to reporters at the Chunchugwan press center in the Blue House that afternoon, Wi made the remarks while outlining the timeline of the response to the Foreign Ministry hack.

"After detecting the incident, we consulted with various relevant agencies," Wi said. "Because information requiring urgent security measures was discovered among the hacked data, it took several months to address those issues before making an external announcement."

He added, "We had to deal with matters subject to security limitations first. Focusing on those response measures delayed the public release by several months."

He emphasized, "There is no attempt to conceal or deceive. Right now, we are concentrating on follow-up efforts."

Wi maintained a cautious stance regarding the entity behind the attack. "We do not have a clear identification yet, and the investigation is ongoing," he said, adding, "It is difficult to be definitive." However, he noted, "We can make inferences, and we are investigating with various possibilities open."

He also pointed out that diplomatic and security agencies are frequent targets. "When attackers target a specific entity, they have a purpose," Wi said. "Whether it involves diplomacy, national security, or intelligence, diplomatic institutions are generally frequent targets."

Wi also stressed the need to establish measures to prevent recurrences. "Taking this incident as a lesson, we will review our security systems and do our utmost to prevent a recurrence," he said. "We will take this opportunity to set clear guidelines and handle security thoroughly."

Earlier, it was revealed that the online education system of the Foreign Ministry's Korea National Diplomatic Academy had been exposed to hacking for about 10 months. Concerns were raised that personal data of numerous diplomacy-related personnel—including current and former diplomatic officers and foreign mission attachés—had been leaked in large quantities.

The hacker reportedly breached the academy's online education system server around April or May last year and accessed it frequently until early February this year. After being notified of abnormal access patterns by relevant agencies in February, the Foreign Ministry identified the breach, urgently shut down the system, and launched an investigation.

                                                                                                       Park Young-hoon