In September, a fire broke out at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) of Daejeon branch, paralyzing major national information systems. As a result, numerous administrative services requiring personal information verification were suspended, causing widespread inconvenience to citizens. Although the government has taken recovery efforts and announced plans to prevent recurrence, it appears that a fundamental solution needs to be developed.

The Scene of the National Information Resources Service 

Photo: News1 (news1.kr)

Fire at the NIRS, Cause Still Undetermined
The NIRS, under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MIS), is responsible for integrating and managing government information resources through IT technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing. It currently operates integrated information systems for about 50 government agencies, with its main headquarters in Daejeon and additional centers in Gwangju and Daegu.

On September 26, a fire broke out on the fifth floor of the NIRS Daejeon headquarter. Based on the grading system, which categorizes systems according to their importance and social impact, 40 first-grade and 68 second-grade systems were reported damaged. Notably, many first-grade systems, such as Korea Post and the e-People petition system, are closely tied to citizens’ daily lives, amplifying the consequences of the incident.

The cause of the fire is presumed to be battery ignition, but investigations remain inconclusive. During a government briefing on September 27, the MIS stated, “The fire is believed to have been caused by the ignition of lithium-ion batteries in an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) unit. It likely occurred during the process of relocating the UPS batteries to the basement.” However, they have not yet released final forensic results or any official confirmation beyond the initial presumption.

Successive Administrative System Failure Caused Personal Inconvenience
The fire disrupted major systems directly tied to citizens’ daily routines, resulting in extensive inconvenience. One of the most affected areas was the postal and delivery system. According to the Korea Fire Institute, the system outage overlapped with the Chuseok holiday, causing serious delays in postal services. Some universities accepting admissions documents through the mail were unable to confirm arrival time due to disruptions at post offices.

The Government24 platform outage further worsened the situation. Lee Soo-ah, a student of the Dept. of International Studies, recalled, “I went out for a drink with a friend, but suddenly my mobile ID stopped working. Later, I found out that it was the day of the fire. I do not usually carry a physical ID since I use the mobile version, so I was really panicked when it did not work.”

Jeju Air also issued a notice urging passengers to prepare their physical identification in advance due to the Government24 malfunction. Domestic travelers must present ID for verification, but minors or those without physical IDs typically use documents such as family relation certificates. When Government24 went down, and with unmanned civil document kiosks also malfunctioning, such passengers faced serious difficulties verifying their identity.

Other modes of transportation faced similar issues. For example, certain groups such as multi-child families, veterans, and individuals with disabilities normally receive discounts when booking train tickets. However, due to the system outage, only previously registered users could access the discounts. KORAIL stated, “Customers who were already registered can still purchase discounted tickets and board trains as usual, but new registrations for veterans, disabled persons, and multi-child families are temporarily unavailable. Pregnant women and basic livelihood recipients can only register in person at ticket counters.”

Beyond the Individual, Extending to Societal Impact
The impact extended beyond individual inconvenience. Nara Market, the nation’s central procurement platform, was offline for three weeks until October 13 due to the fire. As the platform recorded transactions worth 145.1 won trillion last year and has shown steady annual growth, the outage reflects a significant disruption to contract and bidding processes during the paralyzed period.

The fire also disrupted healthcare-related systems. The Ministry of Health and Welfare reported that the e-Haneul Cremation System, used for corpse cremation reservations, was suspended nationwide. As a result, the authorities had to urgently launch a temporary website to continue the service. This outage lasted until October 16, causing bereaved families to be unable to check their reservations and leading to cremation delays.

Similarly, the Organ Donation and Blood Transfusion Management System was completely halted until October 22. This suspension prevented both organ donation registrations and transplant management, creating serious difficulties in medical environments where immediate action is critical.

Urgent Efforts Made, But No Real Solution
In response to the wide-ranging fallout, the government has focused on system recovery. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures (CDSC) headquarters, as of November 2, “656 out of 709 disrupted government information systems have been restored, achieving a recovery rate of 92.5%. Full recovery is expected by the end of the year.”

Plans are also underway to relocate certain systems to alternative sites. During the 12th meeting of the CDSC headquarters in October, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced, “Some systems will be transferred to the Daegu center. We are currently coordinating with related ministries to analyze each department’s operational environment before relocation.”

Experts, however, argue that the incident exposed deep structural weaknesses in Korea’s digital infrastructure. They stress that data backup and safety management protocols must be fundamentally improved.

Professor Kwak Jin of Ajou University’s Dept. of Cybersecurity stated, “The fact that critical systems like G-Drive operated without external remote backups represents a fundamental IT governance failure. We need to adopt the 3-2-1 Principle —keeping three copies of all data, on two different types of media, with at least one offsite backup—to ensure resilience and prevent similar crises.”

Prof. Kim Pil-soo of Daelim University’s Dept. of Future Automotive Engineering added, “Since this involves managing national data, a robust and redundant backup system must be established. The government should also implement comprehensive emergency response manuals to prevent recurrence.” He further noted that the NCM batteries linked to the fire had been in use for 11 years beyond their recommended lifespan and stressed, “For high-risk materials like batteries, consistent monitoring and proper usage manuals are essential.”

The ripple effects of this fire revealed that while digitalization of public infrastructure has brought convenience, it also involves high dependency and vulnerability. The disruptions and confusion that spread across society underscore the need for not only the quick restoration of services but also a fundamental review of causes and preventive measures. The government seems to need to go beyond recovery efforts to establish long-term safety systems to restore public trust and reduce citizens’ anxiety.