Joo Ho-young "Kakao's Response Manual Inadequate, Shocking... Safety Measures Must Be Established"

"National Assembly Cannot Claim No Responsibility"
Lee Jong-ho "Recognizes the Seriousness of Economic and Social Activity Paralysis"
Bang Moon-kyu "Preparing Multifaceted Measures to Prevent Recurrence"

Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, is delivering opening remarks at the National Assembly's audit countermeasure meeting held on the 18th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Hyunji Kwon] Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the People Power Party, stated on the 19th at the party-government council regarding the 'Kakao Data Center Fire,' "I am appalled that platform companies manage so carelessly and have inadequate response manuals after accidents," adding, "While Kakao bears responsibility, the government authorities who failed to properly supervise and the National Assembly that did not provide legislative support cannot be exempt from responsibility either. I hope they fully recognize the weight of their responsibilities and take this opportunity to prepare thoroughly."

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Floor Leader Joo said, "During the 20th National Assembly, a bill mandating the mandatory storage of backup data reached the Legislation and Judiciary Committee but failed to pass due to backlash over double regulation. However, now that an incident has occurred, the situation has become truly absurd," he said.

He added, "After the KT Ahyeon-dong fire incident, there were multiple assurances that such an event would never happen again, but nothing has changed since then, and the situation remained defenseless," and said, "Today, we will hold a party-government council to discuss the cause of the fire, damage status, recovery progress, and future measures."

Referring to this accident as a 'man-made disaster,' he said, "Many backward accidents occur due to complacent thinking that it won't happen," emphasizing, "Several lawmakers in the party have already submitted bills centered on the discarded 20th National Assembly legislation to mandate redundancy or diversification and to create manuals for measures in case of accidents. Today, through consultations with related agencies, we will establish proper safety measures."

Lee Jong-ho, Minister of Science and ICT, said, "Unlike period communication services that directly provide wired and wireless communication services, value-added communication services were outside the scope of the communication disaster response system," adding, "If the safety of major value-added communication services like Kakao collapses, as we have experienced, it would paralyze not only the daily lives of the people but also economic and social activities. We are taking this situation very seriously."

He continued, "The Ministry of Science and ICT, together with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Korea Communications Commission, fire authorities, and other related agencies, has formed a disaster countermeasure headquarters led by the minister to fully respond through recovery support, disaster issue management, user notification, and root cause analysis," and said, "We will actively participate in discussions on related law amendments in the National Assembly for system improvement."

Moon Beom-kyu, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination, said, "Popular IT platform companies like Kakao require a certain level of disaster preparedness measures regardless of the distinction between period communication networks and value-added services, and in case of accidents, rapid response and resilience must be prioritized as social duties and responsibilities," adding, "It is necessary to thoroughly identify the causes and prepare multifaceted measures to prevent recurrence."

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