Daejeon: The interior ministry announced on Sunday that it has initiated a phased resumption of the administrative computer network operations following a fire caused by a battery explosion. The incident, which occurred at the National Information Resources Service in the central city of Daejeon, is expected to delay full restoration for approximately two weeks.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the fire broke out on Friday when a lithium-ion battery exploded in a computer room on the fifth floor. As of 7 a.m., the government had managed to restore over 50 percent of the network devices at the center. The interior ministry reported that 99 percent of the 767 key security-related devices had resumed functioning.
Out of the 647 government network systems housed at the center, 96 were reportedly damaged in the blaze. These include critical services like the mobile identification system and the online postal service. The ministry plans to gradually reactivate the remaining 551 computer systems, which were halted for safety precautions even though they were not directly affected by the fire. By 10 p.m., 30 of these systems had been brought back online.
An official from the interior ministry highlighted that the pangovernment intranet, known as the Onnara System, is currently providing limited services, with several key features still offline. The government is in the process of relocating the 96 damaged systems to a branch of the agency in Daegu, a task anticipated to require around two weeks for complete restoration.
The finance ministry confirmed that its major platforms, such as the state financial information network and the government subsidies portal, are back in operation. Kim Kwang-yong, chief of the Disaster Safety Management Headquarters, stated, "The government is making efforts to swiftly restore the administrative system. We will disclose the progress in the recovery work and the cause of the fire in a transparent manner."
The science ministry reported that Korea Post's financial services, including debit card transactions, online banking, and ATM services, were operational as of 9:00 p.m. Sunday. However, the restoration of its mailing service is still ongoing, with operations expected to commence early Monday. Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon remarked, "In order to fully normalize mailing and financial services of Korea Post, we plan to continue system updates and maintain monitoring efforts to assess the damage."
Fire service and police officials are set to conduct on-site inspections to ascertain the cause of the explosion, which occurred in one of the center's uninterruptible power supply batteries during an attempt to disconnect them from servers for relocation. The fire was entirely extinguished by 6 p.m. on Saturday, approximately 22 hours after it began.