Seoul, 28 September (IANS). The South Korea’s Ministry of Home Affairs said on Sunday that it had slowly resumed the operation of the administrative computer network, which was stalled by the fire caused by the battery explosion.
However, it is estimated to take about two weeks to be completely restored.
On Friday, the fire broke out after a lithium-ion battery exploded in a computer room located on the 5th floor at the National Information Resource Services Center located in the middle of the city of Deson.
According to the ministry, by 7 am, the government had restored more than 50 percent network equipment at the Center. Out of 767 major security-related equipment, 99 percent have started working again.
According to the report of the Yonhap news agency, the ministry said it would gradually turn on 551 computer systems that were not directly affected by the fire, so that it could be reviewed whether the online service is running normally or not. Out of a total of 647 government network systems at the Center, 96 are estimated to be damaged by the recent fire, including the mobile identification system and online postal service.
A Home Ministry official said that the government internet, the Onara system, which is necessary for the public sector, currently provides only limited services and major facilities are closed.
The government said it is preparing to move 96 damaged systems to the agency branch in the southeastern city of Dagu and is expected to take about two weeks to be completely restored.
Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry said that its major platforms, including the State Financial Information Network and the Government subsidy portal, have been turned on. Kim Quang-Yong, head of the Disaster Safety Management Headquarters, said, “The government is making efforts to restore the administrative system rapidly. We will reveal the progress of rescue work and the causes of the fire in a transparent manner.”
The Ministry of Science said that the financial services operated by Korea Post were restarted by 9 pm on Sunday night, including debit card transactions, online banking and ATM services.
However, the restoration of its postage service is still going on and operations are expected to start from Monday morning.
Science Minister Bay Cuning-Hun said, “To make the post and financial services of Korea Post completely normal, we are planning to continue the monitoring efforts to continue the system update and assess the loss.”
Fire service and police are planning to inspect on the spot to find out the cause of the fire. Government officials said that in one of the seamless power supply batteries of the explosion center, the employees were separated from the server and taking them to the basement. Officials said that about 22 hours after the fire, the fire was completely extinguished at 6 pm on Saturday.
-IANS
ASH/DKP
