South Korea’s National Data Center Fire Disrupts Hundreds of Government Online Services; Prime Minister Apologizes | WPN World People News

A fire broke out last night at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, South Korea, triggered by a lithium battery, causing a nationwide shutdown of multiple government online systems, including postal services and emergency response platforms. The incident drew widespread public concern, prompting Prime Minister Kim Min-seok to issue a public apology on the 27th.

According to AFP, the center, located about 150 kilometers south of Seoul, is a key national information facility that hosts hundreds of critical systems. Local authorities stated that while the blaze was largely brought under control earlier, cooling and humidity control equipment essential for the servers had been damaged, leading the government to shut down most systems to prevent further harm.

South Koreans received several official text alerts early this morning, notifying them that some postal online services were suspended, and that the 119 emergency hotline could only be reached by phone, with video and text reporting functions temporarily disabled.

In his statement, Kim said: “Because critical systems are concentrated in a single facility, firefighting and recovery efforts are extremely challenging. Processing of certain civil affairs and the issuance of official documents may be delayed, causing inconvenience to the public. I extend my deepest apologies to the people.”

The Ministry of the Interior reported that, as of the morning of the 27th, 647 government online services were offline, affecting mobile identity verification, the National Law Information Center, and the official platform for filing petitions.

The accident has drawn comparisons to the 2022 KakaoTalk outage, when a fire at a data center crippled South Korea’s largest messaging app, disrupting service for more than 50 million users. That incident forced both the company and the government to pledge stronger preventive measures. With yet another fire now striking a national-level data center, public concerns over cybersecurity and infrastructure safety are likely to deepen.