KT Embarrassed... On the Day Koo Hyun-mo Declared the 'AI Era,' a 'Network Outage' Incident Occurred

On the morning of the 25th, KT's internet network experienced an outage nationwide for over an hour, resulting in a notice stating "Card payment unavailable due to network error" posted at the entrance of a restaurant in Masan-myeon, Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do. 2021.10.25 [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Joesulgina] The morning of the 25th, when KT's wired and wireless internet network was paralyzed, coincidentally came right after CEO Koo Hyun-mo introduced KT's artificial intelligence (AI) business strategy and declared "AI for everyone's daily life."

KT held an online press conference from 10 a.m. that day to introduce plans to expand the AI Contact Center (AICC) service applying AI active composite technology.

CEO Koo appeared via video at the beginning of the conference and emphasized, "The AICC services such as AI customer center and AI call assistant, introduced based on 'AI active composite conversation' technology, will be a turning point that changes the paradigm of the AI industry," adding, "We will create a daily life where AI responds 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."

In particular, he stressed again that "KT has sufficient data through telecommunications and platforms, and has solidified its AI technology capabilities through significant investments," highlighting that KT can become the leading AI powerhouse in Korea based on its telecommunications and platform infrastructure capabilities.

However, shortly after the conference ended, KT's wired and wireless internet network experienced nationwide outages, leading to an embarrassing situation for KT. This was because the basic operation and maintenance of the telecommunications network, which KT has prided itself on before declaring itself as a leading AI and digital platform company, was shaken.

The connection outage on that day occurred nationwide, including Seoul, the metropolitan area, Chungcheong and Honam regions, as well as Jeju Island, from around 11:20 a.m. for about 40 minutes. Not only internet access but also mobile phone calls in some areas were disrupted. Many citizens complained of inconvenience as payment systems and QR authentication did not function properly in restaurants and shops using the KT network.

Although the network was restored around noon, instability remained. KT initially suspected a DDoS attack as the cause of the outage, but about two hours later, at around 2:30 p.m., it corrected its statement through an official announcement, saying, "After careful verification, we identified a routing (network path configuration) error as the cause."

The Ministry of Science and ICT issued an information and communication accident crisis alert at the "caution" level at 11:56 a.m. The ministry explained, "We are conducting an in-depth investigation into the cause of the incident and have instructed KT to investigate the damage status to users," adding, "After investigating the cause, we plan to prepare follow-up measures such as recurrence prevention plans."

KT's second labor union, KT Saenozu, released a statement titled "KT Nationwide Internet Paralysis Incident, a Serious Issue for Which Management Must Take Responsibility," strongly criticizing the company and CEO Koo. KT Saenozu said, "A disaster-level incident occurred where KT's wired and wireless internet service was interrupted for more than 30 minutes. It is the current reality of KT that a 100-year telecommunications company’s nationwide internet communication was paralyzed due to human error," urging, "The clear cause and management structural responsibility must be held accountable."