National Information Resources Management. Yonhap News. 

A battery fire at the National Information Resources Management Center in Daejeon, where government computer systems are housed, caused a large-scale paralysis of government computer services on the 26th.

According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Fire Department, a 119 report was received by the fire authorities at around 8:20 PM on this day, stating that a lithium battery fire had broken out on the 5th floor of the National Information Resources Management Center in Hwaam-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon.

Fire authorities are battling the blaze with 73 firefighters and 70 fire trucks deployed to the scene, but are experiencing difficulties in extinguishing it.

Heavy smoke is emanating from the site, and firefighting efforts are being hampered by concerns about damage to the computer systems.

One person inside sustained first-degree burns to their face and arms due to the fire.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced that government services housed at the Daejeon headquarters have been suspended due to the fire at the National Information Resources Management Center.

The government services affected by this fire have been identified as 12 systems of Grade 1 and 58 systems of Grade 2, including the mobile ID card and the National Civil Appeals system.

Websites of government ministries, including the Ministry of Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the online civil service portal Government 24 are experiencing outages.

An official from the Ministry of Interior and Safety stated that access to the government mailing system is also being delayed.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety is currently assessing the exact extent of the government systems affected by the fire.

Minister of Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-joong has ordered the swift extinguishing of the fire, prioritizing the safety of lives, and mobilizing all available resources to restore government service disruptions.

Yonhap News