Lee visits fire-damaged government data center in Daejeon
President Lee Jae Myung visited the National Information Resources Service headquarters in Daejeon, where restoration work has been ongoing for two weeks following a major fire that disrupted hundreds of public administrative systems.
According to the presidential office, Lee’s visit aimed to encourage government officials and private contractors leading recovery efforts while also reassuring the public amid the prolonged disruption.
Upon arriving at the site, Lee was briefed on the fire suppression system and took a look around the water tank where the fire-damaged lithium-ion batteries had been submerged for cooling. The president also viewed the server room where the blaze originated and questioned officials on the cause of the blaze and how the batteries had been stored before the fire.
After listening to Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung’s report on the restoration progress of the government systems as well as its upcoming measures, President Lee emphasized that complete recovery “as swiftly as possible” should be the top priority, calling on officials to efficiently deploy budgets and personnel where needed.
Lee also likened the importance of national data infrastructure to that of national defense, adding that “airtight prevention measures” should be made to ensure the incident “never happens again.”
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President Lee Jae Myung visited the National Information Resources Service headquarters in Daejeon, where restoration work has been ongoing for two weeks following a major fire that disrupted hundreds of public administrative systems.
According to the presidential office, Lee’s visit aimed to encourage government officials and private contractors leading recovery efforts while also reassuring the public amid the prolonged disruption.
Upon arriving at the site, Lee was briefed on the fire suppression system and took a look around the water tank where the fire-damaged lithium-ion batteries had been submerged for cooling. The president also viewed the server room where the blaze originated and questioned officials on the cause of the blaze and how the batteries had been stored before the fire.
After listening to Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung’s report on the restoration progress of the government systems as well as its upcoming measures, President Lee emphasized that complete recovery “as swiftly as possible” should be the top priority, calling on officials to efficiently deploy budgets and personnel where needed.
Lee also likened the importance of national data infrastructure to that of national defense, adding that “airtight prevention measures” should be made to ensure the incident “never happens again.”
In a seeming response to an Interior Ministry official who fell to his death on Oct. 3 while conducting restoration efforts of online government services, Lee also instructed government officials to ensure that the work environment remains safe and that workers are not exposed to mental or physical risk.
Lee’s visit on Friday, however, sparked political speculation among commentators, suggesting that the visit may have been prompted by criticism the president faced over his recent appearance on JTBC’s cooking show “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator.” The show garnered criticism from Lee’s political opponents, who accused the president of turning a blind eye to the data center fire.
A presidential official dismissed that view, saying that the visit was intended to extend “support to public servants who worked through the holiday” and was an event “scheduled in advance that had nothing to do with political controversy over the variety show appearance,” as quoted by Yonhap News Agency.
According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, 217, or 30.6 percent of the 709 affected systems, have been restored as of 12 p.m., Friday, an increase of 20 from the previous day.
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Lee visits fire-damaged government data center in Daejeon, source
