Presidential Office Official: "We Will Ensure No Recurrence of Leaks on President's External Schedule... We Apologize"
[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Presidential Office explained that the leak of President Yoon Seok-yeol's confidential schedule for his visit to Daegu on the 26th through First Lady Kim Geon-hee's fan club 'Geonhee Sarang' was due to "(the People Power Party's) Daegu City Party having quite a few members who intended to attend, so the schedule was informally known," adding, "(The fan club) is not the subject. It is the party members."
A key presidential official said in the afternoon at the Yongsan Presidential Office, "Such an incident (leak of the president's external schedule) should not happen. We will be more vigilant and carefully monitor to ensure it does not happen again. We apologize," when meeting with reporters.
Earlier, on the fan club 'Geonhee Sarang' Facebook page, a user posted a comment on the 24th saying, "Announcement: President Yoon Seok-yeol will visit Daegu Seomun Market at 12 PM on the 26th. Please attend and help promote," sparking controversy over security and protection.
The president's external schedule is a confidential matter (security embargo) until the event concludes due to security concerns. The schedule is only briefly notified to the press corps under the security embargo condition.
The official added, "President Yoon's schedule had been canceled once before, and I understand that the Daegu City Party was gathering opinions from party members, incumbent lawmakers, aides, and many who wished to participate while preparing for the event," adding, "It seems to be an effort to support the party event rather than having any specific intention."
Regarding the renewed controversy surrounding the First Lady's fan club, the official drew a clear line, stating, "The First Lady is unrelated to the fan club." This appears to be an attempt to prevent the fan club-related controversy that arose that day from implicating the First Lady. Photos of the First Lady and President Yoon visiting the Yongsan Presidential Office on May 27-28 were posted on the fan club's account, which also caused a photo leak controversy.
Furthermore, the official emphasized again, "It is presumed to have come out during the party members' event process, and to examine this more closely, we will investigate through the security office how such an incident occurred and take the best possible measures."
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