Financial Services Commission Website Still Inaccessible... Authorities Conducting Emergency Inspection of Disruptions

Aftermath of National Information Resources Service Fire Continues
Emergency Inspections Underway, Full Restoration Expected to Take Time

Due to the fire incident at the National Information Resources Service, it has been confirmed that the websites of major government agencies in the financial sector, including the Financial Services Commission, are still inaccessible. The government expects that it will take some time for the systems to be fully restored to normal.

According to the financial sector on September 28, as of the morning of this day, the websites of major government agencies, including the Financial Services Commission, remain inaccessible. When attempting to access the websites, a message appears stating, "The system is under maintenance to provide stable service."

Even when accessing major bank apps, users are greeted with a notice saying, "Due to the government's emergency system maintenance, some services such as resident registration card verification, National Secretary, and Korea Post financial services may not be available."

The financial authorities established a joint "Crisis Response Headquarters" the previous afternoon in connection with the fire at the National Information Resources Service and are urgently inspecting the situation regarding service disruptions in the financial sector.

At an emergency meeting held the previous day at the Seoul Government Complex in Sejong-ro, chaired by Kwon Daeyoung, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, related agencies, and industry associations discussed the impact of the fire on the financial sector and response measures.

Due to this incident, concerns have been raised within the financial sector about possible disruptions to: resident registration card verification and other identification services; administrative agency-linked services such as internet giro and bill payments; and Korea Post-linked services.

According to the banking sector, services such as issuing mobile identification cards and identity verification using resident registration cards or passports have been suspended. Most banks have announced that identity verification is currently only possible with a physical driver's license.

In addition, it is currently difficult to use services such as checking loan limits and submitting related documents using public MyData, transferring funds or checking accounts at Korea Post, paying government funds, and using the National Secretary service.

The Financial Services Commission stated, "To prevent customers from suffering unexpected damages due to financial service disruptions, each financial company should prepare detailed response plans and establish response centers to maintain close communication with the authorities until the situation is stabilized."

Meanwhile, the government announced that by 7 a.m. on September 28, more than 50% of network equipment at the Daejeon branch of the National Information Resources Service had been restarted, and 763 out of 767 core security devices (99%) had been restored.

All 384 batteries that were completely destroyed by the fire were removed from the site the previous afternoon. In addition, essential constant temperature and humidity devices for stable IT system operations were restored by 5:30 a.m. and are now operating normally.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety explained that once the communication and security infrastructure is fully operational, it plans to sequentially restart 551 systems that were not directly affected by the fire.