Daejeon: Major government online services and networks were crippled following a fire at the central state data center in Daejeon, caused by a battery explosion. The timeline for recovery remains unclear as officials rush to address the situation.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the fire erupted at the National Information Resources Service after a lithium-ion battery exploded in a computer room on the fifth floor. Officials reported that the explosion occurred in one of the center's uninterruptible power supply batteries amidst efforts by staff to relocate them to the basement.
As of Saturday morning, the incident left 647 online government services and systems offline, including critical infrastructures such as the mobile identification system and online postal service. Vice Interior Minister Kim Min-jae announced that operations were suspended as a precautionary measure due to temperature and humidity control failures, which could lead to overheating.
Kim stated in a press conference that repairs on the temperature and humidity control equipment are underway. Once completed, the government plans to reactivate the servers to restore services, prioritizing essential services like postal and financial operations.
The disruptions severely impacted the 119 emergency rescue service's location-tracking function, the online official document issuance service, and the Onnara System, a pan-government intranet crucial for administrative processes. Websites of key government bodies, including the office of the prime minister and the interior and finance ministries, also remain inaccessible.
The crisis is believed to have affected nearly a third of the government's total online information systems, leading to significant public inconvenience. Citizens reported issues such as failed debit card transactions and unavailable money transfer services from Korea Post financial accounts.
Firefighters, including 200 personnel and numerous fire trucks, managed to control the main blaze approximately 10 hours after it began, though it partially reignited later. One worker suffered first-degree burns, and around 400 lithium-ion battery packs were destroyed.
In response, Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung elevated the crisis management level for government information systems to "serious." During an emergency meeting, Yun emphasized the government's commitment to resolving the incident swiftly and minimizing public inconvenience.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok issued an apology for the disruptions, assuring the public that efforts are underway to restore the affected services.