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Shutdown of national database command center hinders service restoration after fire

Published: 30 Sep. 2025, 18:38 Updated: 30 Sep. 2025, 19:50

Kim Min-jae, first deputy chief of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and vice minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, briefs reporters on the fire at the National Information Resources Service’s administrative information system at the government complex in Sejong on Sept. 30. [YONHAP]

Officials are struggling to restore government services online after last week’s fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, with recovery efforts hindered by the shutdown of the national command center that manages hundreds of critical databases, known as the National Total Operating Platform System (nTOPS).

Kim Min-jae, first deputy chief of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and vice minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said at a briefing Tuesday afternoon that the government will provide “a complete list of the 647 systems disrupted by the fire at the Daejeon headquarters [that broke out on Sept. 26], along with their recovery status and available alternatives, to minimize inconvenience to the public.”

However, he noted that “the NIRS operates nTOPS to manage these 647 systems, but unfortunately, the system cannot be used due to the fire.” He added that while the Daejeon center had extracted a complete list, “the numbers may differ from the systems managed by individual agencies.”

Although nTOPS servers are located in a different data room from the fire — specifically, on the sixth floor rather than the fifth — the command center system was forcibly shut down when power to the entire facility was cut to facilitate firefighting efforts. The system suffered some, but not direct, damage as a result, officials said.

With nTOPS offline, even basic data on system operations has been inconsistent. Government systems are classified into four levels of importance: 38 at level one, including mobile identification and the civil service portal Government24; 86 at level two; 294 at level three and 229 at level four.

However, discrepancies have emerged — as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, authorities reported 36 systems at level one, 91 at level two and 291 at level three. Officials warned that figures could continue to change as nTOPS is restored.

Criticism has mounted that the government was too slow in implementing backup systems for nTOPS in case of such emergencies. A pilot project for backup operations only began this year, with full implementation not scheduled until December.

Forensic investigators prepare for a fourth day of on-site inspection at the fire scene of the National Information Resources Service in Yuseong District, Daejeon, on the morning of Sept. 30. [YONHAP]

Recovery work at the NIRS headquarters has also been sluggish. As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, just 91 of the 647 disrupted systems, or 13.5 percent, had been restored, according to the central disaster headquarters. Among level-one systems, 21 of 38, or 55.3 percent, were back online.

Currently, 130 government employees and 547 outside maintenance workers are involved in recovery efforts. However, nearly half the affected systems — 330 — are located on the fire-damaged fifth floor, where power remains cut off and cleanup is ongoing, which is slowing progress.

The delays have continued to inconvenience the public. Kim said that “commonly used administrative services,” such as resident registration, seals and passport services, have been largely stabilized through Government24 (Gov24) and self-service kiosks.

“However, disruptions in some functions of real estate transactions and the social security information system have suspended online services, and are causing inconvenience by forcing residents to visit local offices and process documents manually,” he said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM MIN-WOOK [[email protected]]