SEOUL: Hundreds of South Korean public services remained offline on Monday after a fire at a data center disrupted government websites and exposed vulnerabilities in the country’s digital infrastructure.
Authorities said 62 government services had been restored out of about 647 systems affected by the fire which broke out during routine maintenance in a server room at the state-run National Information Resources Service in Daejeon on Friday.
President Lee Jae Myung has apologized for the disruption, saying it was surprising the government had no better backup after similar government service outages in 2023.
Organizations affected by the fire include Korea Customs, the National Police Agency and the National Fire Agency, according to the safety ministry. Some government websites like the safety ministry were out of service as of Monday.
Officials have not given a timetable for full restoration of the disrupted services.
“We see services restoring every hour,” Safety Minister Yun Ho-jung told a briefing, citing recovery of Government24, Korea’s main portal for public services, and financial and postal systems run by Korea Post.
South Korea is one of the world’s most wired countries, with many government services from identification to media briefings online.
Experts said the latest outage suggested the government lacked adequate systems for immediate recovery of critical public services despite major tech disruptions in recent years.
In 2022, a fire at a data center hit some of the country’s most-used apps and websites, including Kakao messenger and the company’s online payment services among others.
“Such disruptions should never occur at a national agency, and real-time synchronization and recovery systems need to be implemented as soon as possible,” said Lee Seong-yeob, a professor at Korea University’s Graduate School of Management of Technology.
“The government should have recognized the need for a higher level of contingency planning, but it seems they were complacent.”
President Lee on Sunday ordered “significant improvement” in the security of government systems and asked ministers to propose budgets for emergency systems to prevent similar outages.
Battery expired
Investigators suspect the fire began after a battery produced by LG Energy Solution exploded during maintenance on Friday night, damaging some servers and forcing hundreds to be shut down. LG Energy Solution declined to comment, saying the matter was under investigation.
Yun said the government would notify the public as major services came back online and warned of increased disruption to daily life while recovery continued.
The batteries, sold and maintained by LG Energy affiliate LG CNS, had been used for more than a decade and their warranty expired last year, according to the safety ministry.
LG CNS advised the government to replace them during a routine checkup in June 2024, although they remained functional, the ministry said.
South Korea scrambles to restore digital services after server fire
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South Korea scrambles to restore digital services after server fire
- South Korea is one of the world’s most wired countries, with many government services from identification to media briefings online
- Authorities said 62 government services had been restored out of about 647 systems affected by the fire
About 400 immigrant children were detained longer than the recommended limit, ICE admits
- A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September
- Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care
TEXAS, USA: Hundreds of immigrant children across the nation were detained for longer than the legal limit this summer, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has admitted in a court filing, alarming legal advocates who say the government is failing to safeguard children.
In a court filing Monday evening, attorneys for detainees highlighted the government’s own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, unsanitary conditions reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, and a renewed reliance on hotels for detention.
The reports were filed as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation of the 1990s cornerstone policy known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits the time children can spend in federal custody and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement.
A Dec. 1 report from ICE indicated that about 400 immigrant children were held in custody for more than the 20-day limit during the reporting period from August to September. They also told the court the problem was widespread and not specific to a region or facility. The primary factors that prolonged their release were categorized into three groups: transportation delays, medical needs, and legal processing.
Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. They also cited examples that far exceeded the 20-day limit, including five children who were held for 168 days earlier this year.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Hotel use for temporary detention is allowed by the federal court for up to 72 hours, but attorneys questioned the government’s data, which they believe did not fully explain why children were held longer than three days in hotel rooms.
Conditions at the detention facilities continued to be an ongoing concern since the family detention site in Dilley, Texas, reopened this year.
Advocates documented injuries suffered by children and a lack of access to sufficient medical care. One child bleeding from an eye injury wasn’t seen by medical staff for two days. Another child’s foot was broken when a member of the staff dropped a volleyball net pole, according to the court filing. “Medical staff told one family whose child got food poisoning to only return if the child vomited eight times,” the advocates wrote in their response.
“Children get diarrhea, heartburn, stomach aches, and they give them food that literally has worms in it,” one person with a family staying at the facility in Dilley wrote in a declaration submitted to the court.
Chief US District Judge Dolly Gee of the Central District of California is scheduled to have a hearing on the reports next week, where she could decide if the court needs to intervene.
