Due to the fire that broke out at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon on the afternoon of the 26th, not only the websites of major government ministries but also their work networks were paralyzed. It has been determined that all 384 internal lithium-ion battery packs at the NIRS were completely destroyed.
On the 27th, the window of the computer room on the 5th floor of the National Information Resources Service in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, was burned by a fire caused by the explosion of a lithium-ion battery. 2025.9.27 Yonhap News Photo by Yonhap
According to the Daejeon Fire Department on the 27th, the fire occurred at around 8:20 p.m. the previous day when a lithium-ion battery exploded in the computer room on the 5th floor of the NIRS. The main blaze was brought under control at around 6:30 a.m. after about 10 hours, but reignited about two hours later. Due to the nature of battery fires, once a fire starts, it is difficult to extinguish, and even after it is put out, it can reignite due to high temperatures and other factors.
The fire department reportedly deployed 64 fire trucks to fight the blaze. However, they could not use large amounts of water, as this could damage national data resources. At one point, the temperature inside the computer room rose to 160 degrees Celsius, causing the flames to spread and all 384 battery packs to be completely destroyed. Kim Kiseon, head of the Emergency Rescue Control Team, explained, "Because these are national resources, we could not use a large amount of water to prevent data loss, and since we used gas-based fire suppression systems such as carbon dioxide, there were limitations to quickly extinguishing the fire."
The fire authorities are currently working to vent smoke outside while submerging the internal battery packs in water for removal. However, it is expected that data recovery will take a considerable amount of time.
As a result of this fire, the websites of major government agencies, including the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, have become inaccessible. A total of 647 government work systems that provide public services have been suspended, and access to the government online civil service portal "Government24" is also unavailable. The "Onnara System," the internal network that integrates government document creation, approval, and other work processes, is also down, causing significant disruptions to public officials' work.
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