South Korea’s government got some good news Monday as 47 key public services came back online after a massive outage sparked by a fire at a state data center. The blaze hit the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, about 140 kilometers south of Seoul, knocking out 647 civil application services starting Friday.
By 8:30 a.m., those 47 services were up and running again, according to the interior ministry. They include the popular GOV.KR government portal for everyday applications and the banking side of Korea Post, the national postal service. Officials are focusing first on fixes that keep people’s safety and economic life moving smoothly.
But the road to full recovery won’t be quick. Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung warned that getting everything back to normal could take up to two weeks, especially for 96 systems destroyed in the fire. He shared this during a meeting at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in Sejong, where he stood up, bowed deeply, and said, “I deeply apologize for causing great inconvenience to the people through this disorder.”
The minister explained that the government plans to shift those damaged systems to a cloud setup at NIRS’s branch in Daegu and roll out quick alternatives. With local offices reopening after the weekend, expect delays in administrative tasks—and more headaches as people rush services ahead of the busy Chuseok holiday. Ministries and local governments will work to cut down on disruptions from the surge in demand, like postal, delivery, and financial needs.
Take applications for the second round of government consumption coupons: those are still doable online. But if you need to file a civil complaint, the usual website is down, so head to your local community service center instead. Even booking cremations nationwide has switched to calling or emailing individual facilities directly.
President Yoon Suk-yeol stepped in Sunday with his own apology, telling the nation that the fire has caused “great inconvenience and anxiety.” He ordered a full-speed push to restore services before Chuseok ramps up.
The trouble started when a lithium-ion battery exploded in a fifth-floor server room at NIRS. Firefighters finally put it out at 6 p.m. Saturday, about 22 hours after it began.
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