Seoul: President Lee Jae Myung on Friday expressed condolences over an interior ministry official who died while working on the restoration of online government services following a fire-caused outage. The official, who had led a team overseeing the recovery efforts, fell to his death at the government complex in the central city of Sejong earlier in the day.

According to Yonhap News Agency, President Lee wrote on Facebook, “I pray for the repose of the deceased, who dedicated himself until the very last moment of his life to fulfill his mission as a public servant, and I express sorrow and mourning together with the people.” Lee emphasized the official’s dedication to his responsibilities, which included swiftly easing public inconvenience and restoring normal government functions.

The President further remarked, “We will never forget his sacrifice and devotion, made behind the scenes, to restore the daily lives of the people and help the nation overcome its crisis.” This statement underscores the significant impact of the official’s work during a critical time for the nation.

The fire, which caused the unfortunate series of events, broke out last Friday at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon, located about 140 kilometers south of Seoul. It resulted in the burning of batteries and servers, subsequently crippling 647 online government services.