First Release of 'National Information Resources Fire' CCTV Footage Sparks Controversy Over Company Expertise

"It seemed there was no preparation for the possibility of a fire"
National Information Resources Service Director admits "We failed to sufficiently consider the special characteristics"

Concerns have been raised regarding the lack of expertise of the company responsible for relocating the batteries, which has been cited as the cause of the fire at the National Information Resources Service. For the first time, CCTV footage from the day of the fire was released, clearly showing sparks flying and workers appearing confused and disorganized.

According to the CCTV footage of the National Information Resources fire released by Assemblyman Kim Seonghoe of the Democratic Party of Korea on October 15, at around 8:16 p.m. on the day of the incident, sparks suddenly erupted from a battery pack along one wall of the data center. At the time, workers were moving lithium-ion batteries to the basement. Police have obtained testimony from a company official stating that they did not cut off the power to the battery components during the work.

Yonhap News Agency

When the sparks occurred, the workers rushed outside. About a minute later, a larger explosion took place, and smoke quickly filled the area, making it impossible to see. Around 8:19 p.m., three minutes after the fire started, the workers re-entered and attempted to extinguish the flames with fire extinguishers, but as the fire grew even larger, they all evacuated again.

During the previous day's National Assembly audit by the Public Administration and Security Committee, lawmakers from both parties scrutinized the expertise of the company in charge. Assemblyman Kim, after viewing the CCTV footage, asked, "It appears there was no preparation for the possibility of a fire during the battery pack replacement. Was there any verification of such preparedness when hiring personnel?" Assemblyman Ko Dongjin of the People Power Party pointed out, "The work supervision log from the day of the incident only contains general information, with no records of preemptive measures such as checking the charge level or cutting off power to each rack." He argued that, given the specialized nature of the work, the company should have been selected through a 'restricted competitive bidding' process rather than an open competitive bid.

Lee Jaeyong, Director of the National Information Resources Service, admitted in response to Assemblyman Ko's question, "We failed to sufficiently consider the unique nature of battery relocation work when selecting the company, setting contract terms, and determining the bidding method." When asked whether there was a manual related to the battery relocation work, he replied, "There was no separate manual."

Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Hojoong stated that, in addition to the rapid restoration of key systems, the management framework for the data center would also be improved. Minister Yoon said, "We aim to restore the tier 1 and 2 systems by the end of this month, and to complete the restoration of the completely destroyed 7-1 data center system by around November 20." He also mentioned, "It may be necessary to legally introduce a data center tier system, like the one recommended by organizations such as the Uptime Institute." The Uptime Institute, a U.S.-based evaluation and certification body, has established data center tier standards based on factors such as power and cooling redundancy.