South Korea restores some services after data centre fire

Audio By Carbonatix

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea has restored 46 government services after a fire at a data centre disrupted websites and digital public amenities, Safety Minister Yun Hojung said on Monday.

“We see services restoring every hour,” Yun told a briefing, citing recovery of Government24, Korea’s main portal for public services, and financial and postal systems run by Korea Post.

Organisations affected by the fire include Korea Customs, the National Police Agency and the National Fire Agency, according to the safety ministry.

The blaze struck a server room at the state-run National Information Resources Service in Daejeon, halting some government sites and mobile ID functions used for internet banking.

Authorities said another 96 systems affected by the fire would be harder to restart, without giving a timetable for full restoration.

Investigators suspect the fire began after a battery produced by LG Energy Solution exploded during maintenance on Friday night, damaging some servers and forcing hundreds to be shut down. LG Energy Solution declined to comment, saying the matter was under investigation.

Yun said the government would notify the public as major services came back online and warned of increased disruption to daily life while recovery continued.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday ordered “significant improvement” in the security of government systems and asked ministers to propose budgets for emergency systems to prevent similar outages.

The batteries, sold and maintained by LG Energy affiliate LG CNS, had been used for more than a decade and their warranty expired last year, according to the safety ministry. LG CNS advised the government to replace them during a routine checkup in June 2024, the ministry said.

(Reporting by Heejin Kim; Editing by Stephen Coates)