President Lee vows to lessen public disruption from fire at NIRS

President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday vowed to minimize public disruption caused by a fire at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon that paralyzed government data systems.

President Lee Jae Myung takes part in a senior official meeting on Sept. 18 at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, central Seoul. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee Jae Myung on Sunday vowed to minimize public disruption caused by a fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon that paralyzed government data systems, emphasizing swift system recovery and operation.

"Through rapid system restoration and reactivation, we will minimize inconvenience to the public," President Lee said while presiding over an emergency response meeting concerning the fire, according to presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung on Sunday.

President Lee expressed concern about the anxiety and inconvenience caused by the fire at a key national information facility and thanked the public for responding calmly with a high level of civic awareness, according to Kang.

The president instructed the government to focus all its efforts on quickly restoring the system and reducing inconvenience to the public. He also called for establishing a clear communication system to keep the public fully informed about the disruptions and recovery process to address questions and concerns.

President Lee also ordered agencies to develop and inform the public of alternative measures to mitigate inconvenience caused by limited access to information systems. He stressed that people who are unable to fulfill administrative duties, such as paying taxes, due to the disruption should not suffer any disadvantages.

Presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung gives a briefing on the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) fire recovery efforts at the Presidential Office in Yongsan, central Seoul, on Sept. 28. [YONHAP]

He further instructed authorities to build a tight cooperation system with the private sector — particularly in areas closely tied to daily life such as finance, logistics and transportation — to prevent any related damage. In addition to rapid recovery, he called for the establishment of a dual-operation system and other fundamental safeguards.

“With the Chuseok holiday just around the corner, the public should not experience any disruptions in celebrating the holiday,” Kang said, quoting the president. “The president urged the prime minister, the interior minister, all other ministers and public servants to stay on high alert and ensure thorough management of the situation.”

The fire broke out around 8:20 p.m. Friday in the NIRS data center in Daejeon, which houses and manages a large portion of the government’s servers and databases. The fire was caused by an explosion of lithium-ion batteries, resulting in a system-wide paralysis.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said that, as of 7 a.m. Sunday, more than 50 percent of network equipment had been brought back online and that core security systems had been restored at a rate of over 99 percent, with 763 out of 767 devices operational.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]