Ministry of Science and ICT Includes Data Centers and Digital Services in 'Government Disaster Response System'

Establishment of "Digital Crisis Management Headquarters" (tentative) Reported to the Presidential Office
Regarding Data Center Fire and Service Disruption
Preparing Institutional and Technical Innovation Measures
Establishment of Digital Crisis Management Headquarters, Management
Service Inspection of Major Value-Added Telecommunications Operators

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The Ministry of Science and ICT will include data centers and digital services, which were previously blind spots, in the government's disaster response system to prevent a recurrence of the Kakao service outage incident. This decision was made based on the assessment that if digital services stop, it would cause significant damage, paralyzing South Korea's society and economy. Additionally, a dedicated organization called the 'Digital Crisis Management Headquarters' (tentative name) will be established, and the development of satellite internet technology that can be used even in disaster situations will be promoted.

The Ministry of Science and ICT reported these measures to the Presidential Office and announced on the 21st that it plans to thoroughly investigate the causes of the incident and prepare concrete countermeasures centered on the Broadcasting and Communications Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters.

Including Data Centers and Digital Services in the Government's Disaster Response System

The Ministry of Science and ICT, together with related agencies such as the Fire Agency, will inspect fire and electrical facilities of data centers and backbone communication networks nationwide to prevent data center fire accidents. In addition, an accident investigation team composed of experts will closely analyze the causes of accidents that occurred in value-added communication services and data centers, and prepare effective measures to ensure the stability of value-added communication services and strengthen protective measures to enhance the survivability of data centers.

By including data centers and digital services, which were previously blind spots, in the government's disaster response system, legal and institutional improvements will also be pursued to ensure systematic progress from protection plan establishment to regular inspections and joint training. In the mid to long term, technologies to improve the stability and safety of digital services will be strategically developed and applied. The development of solid-state batteries with low fire risk and satellite internet technology that can be used anywhere in preparation for communication disaster situations will also be promoted.

Instead of creating organizations to respond each time an incident occurs, the 'Digital Crisis Management Headquarters' will be operated on a permanent basis to establish a full-cycle inspection and management system for disaster prevention, training, response, and recovery of digital infrastructure and services.

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "We will limit the review targets to digital services above a certain scale so that startups and small and medium-sized enterprises focusing on early-stage innovation are not burdened by regulations."

Investigation Needed on Appropriateness of Fire Extinguishing Facilities and Power Management by Zone

The Ministry of Science and ICT will also thoroughly investigate the causes that led to the significant damage from the recent fire incident together with experts.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the emergency restoration of power facilities at the SK C&C data center has been completed, supplying 100% of the basic power needed to operate servers. Most Kakao and Naver services have recovered to pre-incident levels. SK C&C predicted that it will take up to three weeks to fully restore UPS backup power, and Kakao and Naver noted that temporary errors in digital services may occur for the time being.

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated that since the entire power was cut off to extinguish the fire in the battery room within the SK C&C data center, a detailed investigation into the appropriateness of fire extinguishing facilities and power management by zone is necessary. In Kakao's case, considering that an accident at a single data center led to a complete service outage and delayed recovery, it mentioned the need to review the adequacy of the server redundancy system.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Ministry of Science and ICT held an 'Emergency Inspection Meeting on the Stability of Domestic Value-Added Communication Service Providers' chaired by Deputy Minister Park Yoon-gyu to urgently inspect protective measures against emergencies such as server failures by service providers. At the meeting, major value-added communication service providers closely linked to citizens' daily lives in Korea participated to urgently inspect protective measures against various failure scenarios and discuss ways to provide stable services. The value-added communication service providers include Google, Netflix, Meta Platforms, Woowa Brothers, Danggeun Market, Amazon AWS, and GS Neotek. Participants shared the current status of operations and management for stable service provision, such as server redundancy and traffic distribution in preparation for power outages and fires, and will actively cooperate to develop specific improvement measures such as early detection of anomalies, server diversification plans, and user notification methods.

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