A massive disruption has struck South Korea’s government operations after a fire at a national data centre crippled hundreds of digital services, exposing serious weaknesses in the country’s technology infrastructure.
The incident occurred on Friday at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, where a blaze broke out during regular maintenance in a server room. The centre is a critical backbone of South Korea’s digital governance, hosting online platforms used by numerous ministries and agencies. Officials confirmed that out of 647 affected government systems, only 62 had been restored as of Monday.
Disruption Across Core Agencies
The outage has impacted major institutions, including Korea Customs, the National Police Agency, and the National Fire Agency, while even the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s website remained inaccessible at the start of the week. With no clear timeline for complete restoration, authorities continue to work on recovering the systems.
Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung said that services were gradually coming back online, highlighting the return of Government24, the central online portal for public administration, and digital platforms operated by Korea Post. He acknowledged that the outage has caused widespread inconvenience and urged government bodies to cooperate to minimize disruptions as public demand for services increases during the work week.
President Lee Jae-myung publicly apologized for the breakdown, expressing concern that the government had not developed stronger contingency systems despite similar disruptions in the past. He directed ministries to urgently strengthen cybersecurity and propose emergency budgets for backup and recovery systems to prevent future incidents.
Preliminary findings suggest the fire began after a battery explosion in the facility. The battery, produced by LG Energy Solution and maintained by its affiliate LG CNS, was reportedly over ten years old and beyond its warranty period. According to the safety ministry, LG CNS had recommended replacement during an inspection last year, though the batteries continued to function at the time. The company has not issued further comments while investigations are underway.
Citizens Face Real-World Impact
The shutdown of online systems has forced residents to visit local offices in person for routine tasks such as obtaining ID cards, real estate documents, and school application forms.
A 25-year-old resident, Kim, said she had to delay travel plans to collect documents that were normally accessible online. Similarly, Kim Doo-han, 74, said he had to cancel his morning plans to visit a community service centre after hearing about the outage.
Officials working in these centres were seen noting down which services remained unavailable and manually assisting residents— a scene that highlighted the scale of the disruption and the country’s heavy reliance on digital governance.
Experts Warn of Complacency
Technology experts say the incident reflects insufficient preparedness for large-scale system failures. Lee Seong-yeob, a professor at Korea University, said national agencies should never experience such disruptions and urged the government to implement real-time backup and synchronization systems without delay.
As recovery efforts continue, authorities have cautioned that service interruptions could persist for several days. The government has promised to keep citizens informed as restoration progresses.
