Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People Party, is delivering an urgent statement regarding Hwacheon Daeyu at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 27th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the People’s Party, who is reportedly coordinating the timing of his presidential election bid, described the 'KT Network Outage Incident' as "a paralysis of our cyber security."
Ahn, who developed the computer antivirus program 'V3', posted on his Facebook on the 25th, when the 'KT Network Outage Incident' occurred, saying, "Companies using KT internet experienced work paralysis, and schools conducting online classes faced significant confusion. Restaurants were unable to perform 'QR check-ins,'" adding, "There is a possibility that life, safety, and serious economic losses occurred somewhere."
He continued, "The internet network is no longer just convenient when available and inconvenient when not. It is a national infrastructure network that must always be connected and operational, like electricity," and added, "Even a brief disconnection can have a massive impact, like a blockage in the capillaries or aorta of our body."
He further expressed concern, saying, "The targets and means of cyberattacks that can instantly shake the national infrastructure network are expanding. If large-scale disruptions occur in power, water supply and sewage, traffic control, or financial payment networks due to hacker intrusions, virus spread, or electronic warfare, our society will plunge into great chaos in an instant."
Ahn emphasized, "At the national level, personnel necessary for defense and improvement of the national infrastructure network must be deployed," and said, "It is time to manage risks so that all citizens can live their daily lives with peace of mind."
Earlier that day, from around 11:20 AM to 11:57 AM, a nationwide outage of KT’s wired and wireless internet networks lasted about 37 minutes.
According to the telecommunications industry, KT stated regarding the cause of the incident, "Initially, traffic overload led us to suspect a 'DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack,' but upon re-examination, we identified a routing error as the cause."
'Routing' refers to determining the path data takes, deciding how to connect routes from the core network, transport network, and access network?the central parts of the network?to subscribers in the most efficient way. Telecom companies use this to efficiently manage large-scale traffic and ensure smooth operation of the internet network.
Meanwhile, although KT’s internet network has partially recovered, it is reported that some areas nationwide are still experiencing disconnections or connection delays.
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