{"id":16697,"date":"2026-07-25T10:54:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16697"},"modified":"2026-07-25T10:54:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T05:54:41","slug":"south-korean-military-medical-system-breached","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16697","title":{"rendered":"South Korean military medical system breached"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/ph\/st\/th\/1331784931677\/2026\/upi_com\/bb825c742006bdde6eff0a7cdbe84ffd\/v1.5\/South-Korean-military-medical-system-breached.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (C) speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, South Korea, 26 June 2026. Photo by YONHAP \/ EPA<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><span class=\"story_dl\">July 24 (Asia Today) &#8212;<\/span> An unauthorized user gained access to a South Korean military medical imaging system containing records for about 1.15 million people, the Defense Ministry said Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The intrusion affected a mobile picture archiving and communication system operated by the Armed Forces Medical Command.\n<\/p>\n<p>The system allows medical personnel to view diagnostic images, including X-rays, computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance imaging scans.<\/p>\n<p>About 8 gigabytes of medical information may have been accessed during the incident in November and December 2025, according to information the ministry submitted to Rep. Lim Jong-deuk of the opposition People Power Party.<\/p>\n<p>The figure was estimated from network traffic rather than a confirmed inventory of downloaded files.<\/p>\n<p>The amount would be equivalent to approximately 1,000 X-ray images, although the precise records accessed have not been identified.<\/p>\n<p>The Defense Ministry said investigators had not confirmed whether any information was copied or transferred outside the system.<\/p>\n<p><b>Six military hospitals potentially affected<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Unauthorized access attempts were detected in systems used by six military hospitals in Goyang, Yangju, Pocheon, Gangneung, Guri and Daegu.<\/p>\n<p>The potentially exposed information includes names, sex, age, dates of medical imaging and images produced through X-rays, CT scans and MRI scans.\n<\/p>\n<p>The system contained medical imaging data for approximately 1.15 million people at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n<p>That figure represents the total number of people whose records were stored in the system, not the number whose data was accessed or stolen.<\/p>\n<p>The breach was discovered during a central security inspection led by the Defense Counterintelligence Command in April.<\/p>\n<p>The Defense Ministry, Defense Cyber Command, Defense Counterintelligence Command and Armed Forces Medical Command formed a joint investigation team in June to determine how the intrusion occurred and assess its scope.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators found that the unauthorized user could enter the system through an open network communications port.<\/p>\n<p>The port reportedly remained open from November 2025 through March.<\/p>\n<p>The Defense Ministry did not identify the person or organization responsible for the intrusion or disclose whether investigators had determined its country of origin.<\/p>\n<p><b>System taken offline after discovery<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Defense Ministry said it stopped operating the system immediately after discovering the unauthorized access.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The system was suspended as soon as the incident was identified,&#8221; a ministry official said. &#8220;The military will implement measures to prevent a recurrence based on the investigation&#8217;s findings.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The ministry did not provide a timetable for completing the investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The incident raises concerns about the protection of sensitive medical information held by South Korea&#8217;s defense institutions.\n<\/p>\n<p>Medical images and associated personal details could reveal a service member&#8217;s identity, medical condition and treatment history.<\/p>\n<p>The system&#8217;s users include enlisted personnel, noncommissioned officers, commissioned officers and generals. It may also contain information belonging to civilians treated at military hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>The ministry said it would address identified security shortcomings and strengthen safeguards against similar intrusions.<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8212; Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>\u00a9 Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Original Korean report: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260724010008960\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.asiatoday.co.kr\/kn\/view.php?key=20260724010008960<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (C) speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, South Korea, 26 June 2026. Photo by YONHAP \/ EPA July 24 (Asia Today) &#8212; An unauthorized user gained access to a South Korean military medical imaging system containing records for about 1.15 million people,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdnph.upi.com\/sv\/ph\/og\/upi_com\/1331784931677\/2026\/1\/bb825c742006bdde6eff0a7cdbe84ffd\/v1.5\/South-Korean-military-medical-system-breached.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}