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South Korea Begins Restoring Government Networks After Data Center Battery Fire

Full service is widely expected to return in about two weeks through a relocation of damaged systems to Daegu.

Overview

  • Officials say a lithium‑ion UPS battery exploded during relocation work at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon, triggering a thermal‑runaway fire late Friday.
  • The outage initially suspended 647 government systems, disrupting mobile ID, Korea Post services, major ministry websites, the pan‑government intranet and parts of 119 location tracking.
  • As of Sunday morning, more than half of network devices and 99 percent of key security devices were back online, and authorities began bringing 551 unaffected systems up in phases.
  • Ninety‑six systems were confirmed damaged and will be moved to the NIRS branch in Daegu, with authorities estimating about two weeks for full normalization.
  • Fire crews fully extinguished the blaze on Saturday after removing and submerging nearly 400 battery packs; one worker suffered first‑degree burns, a joint investigation is underway, and officials say multi‑stage backups make significant data loss unlikely.