Gongju Center, Intended as Backup for Daejeon National Information Resources, Failed to Prevent Crisis Even If Operational

Gongju Center Completed in 2023, Lacking DR System
"Additional Systems Needed to Establish DR"
Only Partial Distributed Data Backup Possible
Opening Likely to Be Delayed Again... Equipment Adjustments Inevitable

It has been revealed that the disaster recovery system at the National Intelligence Resources Management Institute in Gongju, Chungcheongnam-do, which the government had prepared in anticipation of emergencies, was inadequate. This means that even if the Gongju Center had opened as scheduled, it would not have been able to assist in the recovery from the fire at the main Daejeon facility. The government has begun adjusting the backup and recovery systems at the Gongju Center.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and other sources on September 30, the Gongju Center, which was completed in May 2023 and scheduled to open next month, currently has only institutional infrastructure in place, allowing for backup of only some distributed data. Due to the recent fire at the main Daejeon facility, the disaster recovery (DR) system that the government had anticipated was found to be nonexistent. A Ministry of the Interior and Safety official stated, "To establish the desired DR system, additional internal systems must be created," and added, "In light of this fire, we plan to postpone the opening and secure additional budget to overhaul the backup and recovery systems."

On the night of the 27th, at the fire scene of the National Intelligence Resources Management Institute in Yuseong District, Daejeon, a firefighter is placing a burnt lithium-ion battery into a fire water tank. Photo by Yonhap News

Initially, the government planned to begin operating the Gongju Center in November 2024. However, following the government administrative network failure in November 2023, the plan was revised to introduce an 'active-active' disaster recovery system at the Gongju Center. This so-called 'simultaneous operation' system allows both centers to exchange data in real-time, so that if one center experiences a failure, the other can immediately take over services.

If this system had been in place, the Gongju Center could have immediately switched to a backup system during the recent fire, preventing the current paralysis. However, as the plan for the backup and recovery system was changed belatedly, the Gongju Center currently does not have a disaster recovery system in place. The government had initially focused solely on data backup, maintaining a lower-tier disaster recovery system, which is now being cited as a reason for the current disruption.

There is a high possibility that the opening of the Gongju Center, scheduled for next month, will be postponed. Due to the fire at the main Daejeon facility, adjustments to the equipment at Centers 1 through 3 are necessary, and depending on the results of these adjustments, changes to the backup and recovery systems at the Gongju Center are also unavoidable. The Board of Audit and Inspection also pointed out the inadequacy of disaster recovery system construction and operation at major administrative and public institutions the previous day, so a new overhaul plan reflecting these findings may be established.

Adjusting these systems will require funding, and the previously reduced budget must be revised. Last year, the construction budget for the Gongju Center was 25.15 billion won, but only 77.2% of it was executed, and this year, only 1.614 billion won was allocated. Furthermore, for next year, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety requested 7.442 billion won, but this was reduced to 4.3 billion won during the Ministry of Economy and Finance's budget adjustment process.

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