Opposition Lawmakers in the National Assembly's Science and ICT Committee Propose Bill to Prevent Recurrence of Kakao Incident

Representative Proposals by Lawmakers Byeon Jae-il and Jo Seung-rae
Amendments to the Information and Communications Network Act and the Broadcasting Act

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Following the Kakao outage incident caused by the fire at the Pangyo data center on the 15th, several laws strengthening disaster management responsibilities for Internet Data Centers (IDCs) have been consecutively proposed. These laws mainly focus on enhancing the government's management responsibility for private data centers and including general value-added telecommunications service providers, who are tenants of data centers, as subjects responsible for facility protection.

On the 17th, Assemblyman Byeon Jae-il of the Democratic Party of Korea announced that he had taken the lead in proposing the "Partial Amendment to the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (Information and Communications Network Act Amendment)."

The amendment primarily adds operators who run and manage data centers to the list of entities required to implement protective measures to ensure the stable operation of information and communications facilities. It also includes content providers (CPs), who are tenants of IDCs. Furthermore, it grants the Minister of Science and ICT the authority to regularly inspect compliance with protective measures.

According to Article 46 of the current Information and Communications Network Act, operators who directly build and operate data centers are obligated to implement various physical, technical, and managerial protective measures to ensure stable facility operation. Detailed items of protective measures that data center operators must comply with are also stipulated in Article 37 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act and in notifications from the Ministry of Science and ICT.

However, tenants who lease and use data centers have been identified as a blind spot because they are not obligated to implement protective measures for stable facility operation. Even if service interruptions or other failures occur due to this, there is no legal obligation to report such incidents, leading to criticism that this is a legal blind spot.

Assemblyman Byeon Jae-il stated, "During the 20th National Assembly, due to strong opposition from operators, the bill was ultimately shelved, and I deeply regret having to fix the barn after the horse has bolted. Now, as an alternative to protect the safety of the public, I have proposed this bill to add tenant data center operators as subjects obligated to implement protective measures under the Information and Communications Network Act."

On the same day, Assemblyman Cho Seung-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea also took the lead in proposing the "Partial Amendment to the Framework Act on Broadcasting and Communications Development (Broadcasting and Communications Development Framework Act Amendment)" to include major online services and data centers in the national disaster management system. The amendment requires the Ministry of Science and ICT to include matters related to data center operators and value-added telecommunications service providers in the broadcasting and communications disaster management basic plan (hereinafter referred to as the basic plan) when formulating and implementing it.

Assemblyman Cho’s proposal goes a step further than the so-called "Data Center Act (Broadcasting and Communications Development Framework Act Amendment)" that was stalled during the 20th National Assembly in 2020. At that time, the amendment aimed to designate private data centers as national disaster management facilities like broadcasting and communications facilities but was blocked at the Legislation and Judiciary Committee due to opposition from the internet industry and criticisms of an incomplete legal framework. The National Assembly also raised concerns about "double regulation." Since major domestic IDCs are designated as "key information and communications facilities" under the Act on the Protection of Information and Communications Infrastructure, they are already managed under that Act or the Information and Communications Network Act.

Assemblyman Cho Seung-rae said, "Due to the data center fire, many online services directly linked to the daily lives of the public went down, causing an unprecedented situation where daily life came to a halt. We must reorganize the national disaster management system and prepare measures for major services to ensure that such incidents never happen again."

Some in the market predict that similar laws will be proposed by both ruling and opposition parties. An IT industry official said, "In addition to laws that strengthen network management responsibilities, regulations such as the Online Platform Act, which broadly examines the platform ecosystem, are expected to be strengthened."

The Kakao outage incident occurred around 3:30 p.m. on the 15th when a fire broke out at the SK C&C Pangyo data center where Kakao is housed. The incident had a significant impact as Kakao was effectively leasing the SK C&C data center as its main server. As of 6 a.m. on the 17th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that "95% of the damage related to the Pangyo data center fire has been restored," but it is expected to take some time before services are fully normalized.

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