Citizens brace for prolonged disruptions after blaze knocks out gov't data center

A firefighter sprays water on burned lithium-ion batteries stored in a tank after a fire at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon, Saturday. Yonhap

Hundreds of government and financial services across Korea remain offline after a fire at a key national data center, disrupting citizens’ daily routines and prompting President Lee Jae Myung to order ministries to speed up recovery efforts. Officials warned it could take up to two weeks before operations return to normal, affecting everything from housing applications to moving contracts.

One citizen wrote online, “I have to submit documents by Monday, but with the system down I’m really worried." Another complained, "I tried to get a resident registration copy needed for a moving contract, but Government24 was down, so I had no choice but to postpone the contract."

Government24 is Korea's centralized online portal operated by the interior ministry, a core platform in the country’s e-government system.

The blaze broke out Friday evening at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) headquarters in Daejeon, the “nerve center” of Korea’s digital infrastructure. Officials said sparks from a lithium-ion battery ignited the fire while 13 workers were carrying out replacements in a fifth-floor server room. About 100 people evacuated safely, and one worker suffered minor burns. Firefighters contained the flames after 10 hours, but needed nearly 22 hours to fully extinguish them.

The fire destroyed 384 batteries and knocked 647 systems offline, including 436 public-facing services and 211 internal government networks. Affected platforms included the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s e-People petition portal, the Internet Post Office, welfare service platforms and the Government24 portal.

Burned lithium-ion batteries sit in a water tank after a fire at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon. Friday's blaze in an uninterruptible power supply room at a major government data center disrupted hundreds of public services. Yonhap

The president on Sunday ordered ministries to concentrate on restoring government systems and reducing disruptions swiftly, after the fire at Korea’s National Information Resources Service disabled hundreds of services.

“All capabilities must be mobilized for the swift recovery and operation of government systems, and to minimize disruption to the public,” Lee said during an emergency meeting at Seoul Government Complex.

Lee expressed regret for the anxiety and inconvenience caused by the fire at the state-run data center and thanked citizens for remaining calm. He instructed officials to prioritize recovery of critical services such as passport issuance and welfare support, even if it required working overnight, and directed agencies to explain progress transparently and set up alternatives where delays are unavoidable.

He also called for close coordination with the private sector to avoid unintended fallout in banking, delivery and transport services and stressed the need for “fundamental remedies,” including dual-operation backup systems, to prevent future failures.

By Sunday morning, authorities reported partial progress. Cooling and humidity-control systems had been restored, over half of network operations were back online and 99 percent of security systems reactivated.

“Of the 647 systems, 551 could begin sequential restarts later in the day, particularly those on lower floors that were not directly damaged,” an interior ministry official said. But 96 systems on the fire-hit fifth floor are expected to face longer delays, raising concerns that disruptions could continue for weeks.

The outages rippled into the financial sector, where many services rely on government verification systems. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) convened an emergency meeting Saturday to assess the fallout.

Banks reported failures in mobile account openings, digital certificate issuance and password registrations, while postal banking and internet-based billing services were disrupted. The Korea Housing Finance Corp. warned of delays in government-backed mortgages, pensions and loan guarantees.

The FSC and the Financial Supervisory Service established a joint response center and ordered banks to provide clear guidance on alternatives and prevent losses. “The financial sector must ensure that customers are not harmed by these disruptions,” the FSC said.