S. Korea begins gradually resuming operations of state computer network

Seoul, Sep 28 (IANS) The interior ministry said on Sunday it has begun gradually resuming operations of the administrative computer network at the state data centre in the central city of Daejeon after a fire caused by a battery explosion crippled the system.

The fire broke out at the National Information Resources Service in the central city of Daejeon on Friday after a lithium-ion battery exploded in a computer room on the fifth floor, reports Yonhap news agency.

As of 7 a.m., the government had restored more than 50 percent of network devices at the centre, according to the ministry.

Of the 767 key security-related devices, 99 percent had begun functioning again, it said.

The ministry said it will gradually begin running 551 computer systems that were not directly affected by the fire in a bid to review whether the online service is operating normally.

Of the total 647 government network systems at the center, 96 were presumed to be damaged by the recent blaze, including the mobile identification system and online postal service.

Of the affected services, 436 are public programmes and 211 are intranet systems for government officials.

"The government is making efforts to swiftly restore the administrative system. We will disclose the progress in the recovery work and the cause of the fire in a transparent manner," said Kim Kwang-yong, chief of the Disaster Safety Management Headquarters.

The fire service and police plan to carry out on-site inspections in a bid to determine the cause of the fire.

Government officials said the explosion occurred in one of the centre’s uninterruptible power supply batteries while workers were disconnecting them from servers to relocate them to the basement.

The flames were completely extinguished at 6 p.m. Saturday, some 22 hours after the outbreak, authorities said.

--IANS

na/