South Korea: 36.7 percent online government services restore to the fire department of the data center

Seoul, October 12 (IANS). More than 36 percent of the South Korean government’s online administrative services have been restored, which was affected by a fire at a data center in government last month. Officials gave this information on Sunday. By 9am, 260 of the 709 services affected by the fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) were restored in the central city of Daejeon, with a 36.7 percent recovery rate, reports Yonhap News Agency. The headquarters of the central disaster and security against measures said the restored services include the administrative support system of the Cultural Minister for Korean Cultural Centers and websites related to the public procurement service. Currently, 30 of the 40 ‘Grade 1’ services are considered the most important based on their impact and number of users in the four-level system, which achieves a 75 percent recovery rate. The Recovery Rate for ‘Grade 2’ services was 51.5 percent. The fire at Nirs was caused by the explosion of a lithium-ion battery in the serial room on September 26 and was extinguished the next day. Police are investigating the exact cause of the fire. On October 10, President Lee Jae-Myung visited the state data center that was damaged by a major fire last month and investigated the reconstruction work that took place there, the presidential office said. Lee visited the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in the central city of Daejeon at a time when the government accelerated the efforts to restore online services after a fire destroyed the most important data bidding. Lee originally took leave after the extensive Chuseok holiday, which ended on Thursday, but he decided to visit the state data center. Observers say Lee’s decision to visit the data center on his day was aimed at lowering the controversy surrounding its recent appearance on a TV cooking program amid the disruption of online government services across the country due to the fire. The ruling Democratic Party defended Lee’s appearance as “appropriate to promote K-Foods”, while the most important opposition People Power Party described it as inappropriate. The government also criticized its response to the incident, when it increased the number of dysfunctioning systems from 647 to 709, just two weeks after the fire. “The visit was arranged to encourage government officials who work tirelessly even during the holidays,” a presidential official told Yonhap News Agency. He added: “This visit was planned in advance and has no connection to Lee appearing on the program.” -—Is Ash/DKP