There was no report about a loss and a laptop that was gone containing military data. The defense ministry had also denied it and we had kept communicating with the Indonesian ambassador in South Korea, Hatta said.
Bogor, West Java (ANTARA News) - Coordinating minister for economic affairs Hatta Rajasa said that no data had been lost during the visit of the president`s special envoy to South Korea on February 15 to 17.

He made the statement at a press conference held on the sidelines of the government`s working meeting here on Monday responding to media reports about the loss of Indonesian military data at a hotel in South Korea when the country`s envoy was visiting that country recently.

"The visit was done in the framework of an economic cooperation. There was no report about a loss and a laptop that was gone containing military data. The defense ministry had also denied it and we had kept communicating with the Indonesian ambassador in South Korea," Hatta said.

Hatta who led the delegation said what had actually happened was that the head of the sub-directorate of electronics and telecommunication and information of the ministry of industry, Rojih Al Mansyur, discovered three unknown people entering Room 2061 where he stayed and took a laptop without his permit.

He said Rojih then reported the case to the hotel management which then clarified the case including checking on the CCTV records of the corridor of the floor.

He said it was later found that the three had entered the wrong room. They had been ordered to take the laptop from Room 1961 but it was not clear why they then entered Room 2061.

"After knowing the case Rojih Al Mansyur then signed a statement stating that the case was closed and the laptop had been returned. On the question of confidential materials being stolen (Hatta said) that no secret materials were kept in the laptop except expose materials whose copies have also been distributed to participants of the meeting and there was no proof showing that the materials have been stolen and so it was not true that military secrets have been stolen," he said.

Defense minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro who flanked Hatta at the press conference said he was among the team members and had held some bilateral meetings with their South Korean counterparts.

"We came for a courtesy call on President Lee Myung Bak as well as for discussing the draft medium and long-term defense plan between South Korea and Indonesia," he said.

He said no document or military secrets were leaked. The room that the unknown persons had entered was not the ones where the ministers stayed.

Industry minister MS Hidayat meanwhile said the materials in the laptop of his official were materials presented during his meeting with a number of partners from South Korea.

"The laptop contains materials for presentation and some of them have been printed and distributed. So there was nothing secret about it. It contains kind of a map about the national industrial development until 2025. I just knew about the problem when I arrived in Indonesia. So there are no important documents lost," he said and to emphasize he after the press conference showed the presentation materials kept in the laptop and distributed their copies to reporters.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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