South Korea begins gradual restoration of government computer network after fire
South Korea has begun the gradual restoration of its administrative computer network following a massive fire at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon. The Interior Ministry announced on Sunday that while partial services have resumed, full network normalisation could take around two weeks.
The fire, triggered by a lithium-ion battery explosion inside a server room, broke out on Friday and burned for nearly 22 hours before being extinguished. The blaze severely disrupted the country’s state-run IT infrastructure, including critical administrative and financial systems.
As of Sunday morning, more than 50 percent of devices at the centre were back online, with 99 percent of key security-related equipment operational. Of the 647 government network systems, 96 were confirmed damaged, including the mobile identification platform and online postal services.
Officials said unaffected systems would be gradually tested to ensure stability. The government’s intranet, known as the Onnara System, which is essential for public sector operations, remains only partially functional.
Authorities are preparing to relocate 96 damaged systems to Daegu, a process that is expected to take up to two weeks. In the meantime, key services have resumed. The Finance Ministry reported that its financial information network and subsidies portal are back online, while the Science Ministry confirmed that Korea Post’s financial services, including debit card transactions, ATM withdrawals, and online banking, were restored by Sunday evening. However, postal operations are still being repaired and expected to restart Monday.
Kim Kwang-yong, chief of the Disaster Safety Management Headquarters, assured that the government is working to transparently update citizens on both the restoration process and the cause of the fire.
Investigators believe the explosion originated in one of the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) batteries being disconnected from servers. Authorities will conduct detailed inspections to confirm the exact cause.