President Lee Jae-myung on the 28th said of the fire at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon (hereafter NIRS), "As the person with ultimate responsibility for state affairs, I would like to first say that I am sorry." Presiding over a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting at the Government Complex Seoul that day, Lee said, "Because of this fire, the public is experiencing great inconvenience and anxiety," and added the remarks. However, he noted that a similar situation occurred two years ago under the previous administration and said he would conduct a high-intensity investigation.
At the meeting, Lee convened Ministers from each ministry and local governments to receive briefings and said, "I am told that key security equipment has begun to restart, but some computer systems are still in the process of being restored," adding, "I am deeply grateful to the public for demonstrating a high level of civic consciousness, remaining calm, and rallying behind the government's response."
Citing the damage caused by a large-scale network outage in 2023, he said, "Many point out that this fire looks very similar," adding, "A thorough investigation is needed into whether neglect in protecting the core national network over 2 years led to a severe disruption."
He also pointed to the absence of a "dual operation system" that should operate when the network is damaged. Lee said, "Common sense tells us that fires or outages can occur temporarily, and we will do our utmost to prevent them, but for a national institutional network this important, it is only natural to maintain a dual operation system that can respond immediately when external factors cause damage," adding, "It is astonishing that the system does not exist at all."
He further said, "I hear they boasted they could restore it within 3 hours, but it has been nearly two days and it still hasn't been restored, let alone 3 hours," adding, "Even counting from when the fire was extinguished, that time has long passed. A dual operation system is obviously necessary, and I will find out exactly why it has not been prepared until now."
Lee said, "On matters related to safety and security facilities, I want every ministry to conduct a fundamental review as quickly as possible from the ground up to see if there are any problems," adding, "When it comes to safety or security, it is right to prepare to a degree that may seem excessive. Not doing what is necessary because it costs money or because there may be other inconveniences can never be tolerated."