Daejeon: A fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon on Friday has revealed significant lapses in Korea’s disaster management readiness, drawing attention to the country’s failure to learn from past mistakes. The incident mirrors a similar outage three years ago at the data center of KakaoTalk, Korea’s leading instant messaging platform, which suffered from a lack of a proper backup system, leading to prolonged service disruptions.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the recent NIRS fire has caused wide-ranging disruptions, affecting essential services across the country. The national data center, responsible for managing centralized information systems for government and public institutions, failed to prevent a service outage due to the absence of a redundant system. This has led to significant inconvenience, with critical services going offline. Emergency services struggled to locate callers, postal and financial transactions were halted, and citizens were unable to access important government-issued documents.

In response to the crisis, President Lee Jae Myung issued an apology, acknowledging the public’s frustration and concern. He criticized the former administration for not establishing redundancy systems, which could have mitigated the impact of such disasters. Lee has ordered an investigation into why the previous government did not implement these safeguards, pointing out that the nation had already experienced a similar failure with Kakao.

While President Lee’s criticism of the previous administration might deflect some public anger, the current administration must address the systemic failures under its watch. The president faces the challenge of not only restoring public services but also ensuring national security. The fire-driven outages have exposed vulnerabilities that could pose a security threat, as highlighted by Rep. Na Kyung-won of the main opposition People Power Party. She expressed concerns that immigration officials might struggle to screen incoming visitors, particularly in light of the new visa-free entry program for Chinese tourists, which could lead to increased risks of illegal immigration.

Rep. Ko Min-jung of the Democratic Party of Korea dismissed Na’s concerns, accusing her of fearmongering. However, the situation calls for a serious examination of national security risks, emphasizing the need for bipartisan cooperation to address these challenges effectively. Preparing for potential threats and addressing systemic weaknesses should be prioritized to prevent future crises.