South Korea Struggles to Restore Services After Server Fire
- A fire at a government data center disrupted hundreds of public systems, revealing gaps in South Korea’s digital infrastructure resilience.
South Korea is working to recover from a major outage caused by a fire at a government-run data center in Daejeon, which disrupted hundreds of public services. As of Monday, only 62 out of 647 affected systems had been restored, including key platforms like Government24 and Korea Post’s financial and postal services. The incident exposed vulnerabilities in one of the world’s most digitally advanced nations, where many government functions—from identification to media briefings—are conducted online. Officials have not provided a timeline for full restoration, and the safety ministry’s own website remains offline.
Recovery Efforts and Public Impact
Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung stated that services were gradually coming back online, though the pace remains slow. Vice Minister Kim Min-jae announced temporary relief measures, including extended tax deadlines and waived document fees. At least 96 systems were severely damaged and may take four weeks or more to fully recover. President Lee Jae Myung apologized for the disruption, noting the lack of adequate backup systems despite similar outages in 2023.
Experts have criticized the government’s contingency planning, pointing to a broader pattern of insufficient recovery protocols. Lee Seong-yeob of Korea University emphasized the need for real-time synchronization and robust fallback systems to prevent future disruptions. The 2022 Kakao data center fire, which affected widely used apps and payment services, had already highlighted these risks. Despite past incidents, the current outage suggests limited progress in strengthening critical infrastructure.
Battery Failure and Investigation
Investigators believe the fire originated from an LG Energy Solution battery that exploded during routine maintenance. The battery, maintained by LG CNS, had been in use for over a decade and its warranty expired last year. Although LG CNS recommended replacement during a June 2024 inspection, the unit remained operational. LG Energy Solution declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation into the cause of the incident.
Legacy Hardware and Long-Term Risk
The use of expired batteries in a national data center underscores the challenges of maintaining aging infrastructure in high-stakes environments. While functional, such components may pose hidden risks that only surface under stress or during maintenance. This incident may prompt a broader review of hardware lifecycles across public systems. As digital reliance grows, proactive replacement and redundancy planning will become increasingly critical to ensure service continuity.
