Personal information of 16,000 individuals leaked from Seoul National University Hospital
Published: 19 Mar. 2026, 15:48
![An online notice disclosing a data leak within the Seoul National University Hospital [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/19/c8d6275e-9d20-473a-ace6-819bbc8a6e3d.jpg)
An online notice disclosing a data leak within the Seoul National University Hospital [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Patient records of around 16,000 individuals were partially leaked from Seoul National University Hospital due to a clerical error.
The hospital announced the data breach on its website on Thursday.
A staff member mistakenly entered the wrong email address while sending an internal message at 2:07 p.m. on Saturday, resulting in patient records being sent to an unintended recipient, according to the hospital.
The email contained information including the names of mothers, patient identification numbers for both mothers and newborns, mothers’ dates of birth, height and weight, obstetric history, as well as details on fetuses and newborns, such as sex and medical test results.
The hospital argues that the individuals cannot be identified through the leaked data because information such as resident registration numbers and phone numbers were not included.
“The breach was identified through a staff report, and the email has been confirmed to be in an unopened state,” the hospital said. “We requested the recipient to delete the email immediately after becoming aware of the situation, and contacted the email service operator to prevent further dissemination.”
"We have reported the incident to the Personal Information Protection Commission and the Ministry of Education in accordance with relevant laws, and have notified those affected," added the hospital. “We are currently verifying the exact circumstances and will strengthen internal management systems to prevent similar cases in the future.”
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)