🇰🇷 South Korea’s government may have permanently lost 858TB of information after a crucial hard drive was destroyed in a fire at a data center in Daejeon
On September 26, 2025, a fire broke out at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) data center in Daejeon, South Korea. What began as a maintenance task turned into a national crisis when a lithium-ion battery exploded and triggered a fire that shut down 647 government digital services.
The NIRS data center was the digital backbone for South Korea’s government operations. Everything from identity verification and emergency call routing to postal logistics and administrative portals relied on it.
The consequences were immediate and far-reaching. Essential government functions were interrupted. Emergency services were affected. Public confidence was shaken. And it all started with a battery.
So why should the rest of the world care? Because this event wasn’t just a localized disaster. It was a warning about the risks of lithium-ion batteries, the dangers of centralizing digital infrastructure, and the need for innovation in thermal safety and disaster recovery.
Let’s unpack what happened, why it matters, and how we can move forward, safely and smarter.
More on the article âť— đź“–
Interesting stuff to highlight
As a result, 647 systems went offline, including:
Government24: South Korea’s centralized digital portal for citizens to access public services like civil registrations, tax documents, and government notifications.
Postal and logistics services: Core systems operated by Korea Post that manage mail delivery, tracking, and inter-agency correspondence.
Emergency services like 119 location tracking: Systems used by South Korea’s fire and ambulance services to geolocate emergency calls and dispatch units effectively.
Citizen authentication and identity systems: Platforms that verify digital identities and credentials used for logging into government and financial services.
Only 46 systems were restored within the first 72 hours. Over 90 systems were reported severely damaged or unrecoverable.
The fire quickly escalated from an isolated IT incident into a nationwide infrastructure failure. Digital operations stalled. Emergency response teams faced heightened risks from toxic fumes and the potential for secondary explosions. South Korea’s president called the incident “foreseeable” and demanded a complete overhaul of digital infrastructure planning and safety.
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Maybe they should've made a copy to put in their failed new capital too.
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🇰🇷 South Korea’s government may have permanently lost 858TB of information after a crucial hard drive was destroyed in a fire at a data center in Daejeon
https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/858tb-of-government-data-may-be-lost-for-good-after-south-korea-data-center-fire/On September 26, 2025, a fire broke out at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) data center in Daejeon, South Korea. What began as a maintenance task turned into a national crisis when a lithium-ion battery exploded and triggered a fire that shut down 647 government digital services.
The NIRS data center was the digital backbone for South Korea’s government operations. Everything from identity verification and emergency call routing to postal logistics and administrative portals relied on it.
The consequences were immediate and far-reaching. Essential government functions were interrupted. Emergency services were affected. Public confidence was shaken. And it all started with a battery.
So why should the rest of the world care? Because this event wasn’t just a localized disaster. It was a warning about the risks of lithium-ion batteries, the dangers of centralizing digital infrastructure, and the need for innovation in thermal safety and disaster recovery.
Let’s unpack what happened, why it matters, and how we can move forward, safely and smarter.
More on the article âť— đź“–
Interesting stuff to highlight
As a result, 647 systems went offline, including:
Only 46 systems were restored within the first 72 hours. Over 90 systems were reported severely damaged or unrecoverable.
The fire quickly escalated from an isolated IT incident into a nationwide infrastructure failure. Digital operations stalled. Emergency response teams faced heightened risks from toxic fumes and the potential for secondary explosions. South Korea’s president called the incident “foreseeable” and demanded a complete overhaul of digital infrastructure planning and safety.
Maybe they should've made a copy to put in their failed new capital too.