More than 60 percent of the data lost in last month’s fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, South Korea, has reportedly been recovered so far. According to local media reports, as many as 450 out of 709 services disrupted by the fire have been brought back online.
Readers would recall that on September 26, as many as 96 out of 647 of South Korea’s public services were adversely impacted when a fire broke out in the server room of the NIRS located in Daejeon, around 140 kilometers from Seoul at 8:20 PM local time. The fire impacted the country’s main government portal – Government24 (Gov.Kr), and several financial, taxation, and banking services. A battery reportedly exploded, and that led to a “thermal runway” releasing extreme heat in the server room.
This fire led to several terabytes of data loss, and disruption of various government services. But now, recovery is underway. Citing sources from the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, Korea Herald reported that the restored services include 32 out of 40 Grade 1, or most essential services, reaching a restoration rate of 63.5 percent.
In related news, five people have been booked on charges of professional negligence for causing the fire. Citing sources from the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, Korea JoonAng Daily reported that these include one NIRS official, one from the project management firm and three employees of construction companies.
The two companies that originally won the bid, allegedly subcontracted the battery relocation work to a third company that in turn passed it on to two other companies. This kind of subcontracting is not permitted under the Electric Construction Business Act. Moreover, the primary contractors allegedly falsified employee records to show that the subcontractor’s workers who handled the batteries that day had been hired by their own companies.
Eventually, the project that was illegally subcontracted, was handled by workers who were unqualified for this job, and failed to follow safety protocols. They allegedly conducted the work without cutting power to the batteries, and also failed to use required insulation materials and did not discharge the batteries properly before beginning the relocation process.
A total of 29 individuals have been questioned by the police so far. Meanwhile, South Korea’s National Forensic Service is performing a detailed analysis of the fire and a report is expected in late November.
