Jeong Cheong-rae: "IDC Fire Was a Primitive Mistake... Joseon Wangjo Sillok Also Stored in Four Separate Locations"

Jeong Cheong-rae, Chairman of the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] Jeong Cheong-rae, chairman of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, pointed out the fire that occurred on the 15th at the SK C&C Pangyo Data Center, saying, "A primitive accident that should not happen in IT powerhouse South Korea has occurred."

Chairman Jeong stated at the Science and Technology Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee's audit held at the National Assembly on the 17th, "After inspecting the site with committee members yesterday, it was not a fire in the data center's computer servers, but a fire in the power supply unit located on the third basement floor. Since it had to be extinguished with water, the power was cut off, which caused the servers from the second floor upwards to lose power, resulting in the accident." He added, "To put it in terms of a household, it was like a circuit breaker fire accident. When the circuit breaker trips, all the food in the refrigerator spoils, and you cannot watch TV or turn on the air conditioner."

He continued, "I visited the site yesterday, and there was no contingency plan or an additional system built for emergencies, nor were the servers distributed, so it was a regrettable incident where the overall damage was extensive." He criticized, "Our ancestors stored the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty in four different locations to prepare for emergencies. Yet, in 21st-century South Korea, a cutting-edge IT nation, principles that even existed in the Joseon era were not upheld."

Chairman Jeong said, "The committee will prepare sufficient measures to compensate the public for their damages and will take all possible actions." He also expressed, "The public had to endure significant communication inconveniences over the weekend and suffered damages in various services, and I offer my condolences to them."

The committee plans to summon executives from SK C&C, Naver, and Kakao at the comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Science and ICT scheduled for the 24th to focus on questioning about this fire accident and measures to prevent recurrence.

Meanwhile, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the SK C&C Pangyo Data Center resumed power supply from 1:30 a.m. on the 16th, and sequential recovery work is underway. As of 6 a.m. that day, recovery was approximately 95% complete.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.