South Korea's Lee calls for improving security at national data centre after fire

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has vowed a “significant improvement” in the security of government administrative systems after a major fire at the national data centre brought online services across the country to a halt.

Speaking at a meeting with dozens of ministers and senior officials, Lee voiced concern over the disruption to shipping, postal and financial services ahead of the Chuseok mid-autumn holiday in October. He added that services such as passport issuance and welfare assistance for disadvantaged citizens were also being affected.

The blaze, which broke out on Friday at the National Information Resources Service in the city of Daejeon, was extinguished on Saturday. The centre serves as a cloud hub for many government services and databases in South Korea, a country renowned for its advanced digital infrastructure.

Authorities suspect the fire was triggered by an explosion of a battery manufactured by LG Energy Solution during maintenance work, damaging some servers and forcing hundreds more offline. LG Energy Solution has declined to comment while the case remains under investigation. Firefighters removed the burnt batteries and handed them over to investigators, the safety ministry said on Sunday.

Lee criticised the lack of an adequate contingency plan, saying the country must develop a “dual system” to ensure data security in emergencies. “I don’t understand why we don’t have an emergency plan for this kind of predictable event,” he told officials, calling for new budget proposals to prevent future incidents and for a full investigation into the fire.

According to the safety ministry, work is under way to restore 551 of 647 administrative systems affected. Officials said that 99% of key security equipment and at least half of the damaged network facilities had already been brought back online.

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