South Korea has elevated its national cyber threat alert after a fire at a key government data centre in Daejeon brought down hundreds of critical digital services, sparking fears that hackers could exploit the disruption. The National Cybersecurity Centre, under the country’s intelligence service, confirmed on Monday that the threat level had been raised from “attention” to “caution” as technicians work to restore systems and prevent further vulnerabilities. The move underscores growing anxiety that the paralysis of essential state-run platforms could invite malicious cyber activity during a period of weakened defenses.
The fire began on Friday evening at the National Information Resources Service, a vital facility responsible for handling critical government data and operations. Located in Daejeon, a major technology hub around 140 kilometers south of Seoul, the centre is one of only three such facilities in the country. According to officials, the blaze ignited while workers were relocating lithium-ion batteries from a fifth-floor server room to a basement area for replacement. One of the batteries caught fire, and flames quickly spread across adjacent battery units and nearby servers. Firefighters battled the incident for nearly 22 hours before it was contained. A worker sustained first-degree burns, adding to the severity of the incident.
Authorities responded swiftly by shutting down 647 government-operated systems to limit further damage. The shutdown brought significant disruption across the country, halting government email and intranet networks, identity verification systems, and services such as postal banking, complaints portals, and official websites. Education and taxation sectors were hit hard, with schools unable to access student records and tax payment deadlines passing without functional systems. Real estate transactions stalled due to the absence of digital verification, while hospitals and transport terminals initially turned away citizens unable to present physical identification. Even critical facilities like the national crematorium booking system faced outages. By Tuesday afternoon, 89 of the affected systems, including the government’s main portal and postal services, had been restored, though 96 systems were declared completely destroyed and will need to be transferred to a backup facility in Daegu, a process expected to take at least four weeks.
President Lee Jae Myung issued an apology on Sunday, criticizing the lack of backup protocols and redundancy systems that could have minimized the impact. He described the situation as a foreseeable risk that had been ignored, accusing officials of effectively “driving without a map” when pressed on their preparedness. With the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit set to be held later this month in Gyeongju, where world leaders including those from the United States and China will gather, the crisis has amplified concerns about national security and South Korea’s ability to safeguard digital infrastructure during high-profile events. The fire has drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum as well as major media outlets, with debates intensifying over how a country that prides itself as a technology leader could face such vulnerabilities. The incident has also revived comparisons with the 2022 Kakao data centre fire, which disrupted messaging, digital payments, and transportation for millions, prompting earlier legislation on redundancy measures that appear to have been inconsistently enforced.
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