A major fire at South Korea’s National Information Resources Service (NIRS) data centre in Daejeon has knocked hundreds of critical government services offline, raising urgent alarms about systemic failures in the country’s digital backup infrastructure.
Investigators suspect an expired battery manufactured by LG Energy Solution triggered the blaze, placing renewed focus on the infrastructure resilience of one of the world’s most technologically advanced nations.
Widespread Disruption and Slow Recovery
The fire, which erupted during routine maintenance on Friday, immediately disrupted approximately 647 government systems, including services managed by the Korea Customs, the National Police Agency, and the National Fire Agency. By Monday, authorities confirmed that only 62 systems had been fully restored, with many key public-facing websites, including the safety ministry’s primary portal, remaining inaccessible.
Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung provided an update, noting the partial recovery of Government24, the country’s main online portal for public services, along with financial and postal systems run by Korea Post. “We see services restoring every hour,” Yun told reporters.
Presidential Apology and Expert Condemnation
The scale of the disruption prompted an apology from President Lee Jae Myung, who admitted the government lacked proper contingency planning despite experiencing similar outages in 2023.
“It is surprising the government had no better backup,” President Lee stated, ordering ministers to propose emergency budgets to strengthen cybersecurity and data recovery systems.
Digital infrastructure specialists sharply criticized the government’s lack of real-time synchronization and adequate recovery protocols, arguing such failures should be unthinkable at a national-level agency. “Such disruptions should never occur at a national agency,” said Lee Seong-yeob, a professor at Korea University. “The government seems complacent, despite repeated warnings from past incidents.” The incident has tragically reignited memories of a 2022 data centre blaze that severely crippled popular services like Kakao messenger and online payment systems.
The Expired Battery at the Core
Investigators believe the fire originated when an LG Energy Solution battery, which had been in service for more than a decade, exploded during maintenance. The batteries, managed by LG affiliate LG CNS, had a warranty that expired in 2024.
The safety ministry confirmed that LG CNS had recommended replacing the batteries during a routine check last year, but they were kept in service. LG Energy Solution declined to comment on the matter, citing the ongoing investigation.
