This article is by Hyeon Ye-seul and read by an artificial voice.



It also elevated response protocols at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

A fire caused by a lithium-ion battery explosion in the data center's fifth-floor server room in Yuseong District in Daejeon was extinguished 10 hours after it broke out at around 8:20 p.m. on Friday evening.

The fire has disrupted server operations, restricting access to several public services, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The ministry issued guidelines via Naver's emergency notification page as government websites remained inaccessible.

The Naver notice advised residents to confirm service availability by phone before visiting administrative offices and warned of potential delays or service restrictions on-site.

The ministry also provided links to alternative platforms for essential civil services, including the electronic family registry system (http://efamily.scourt.go.kr), traffic fine portal (https://www.efine.go.kr), construction permit site (https://www.eais.go.kr), the National Tax Service's Hometax (https://www.hometax.go.kr), the National Health Insurance Service (https://www.nhis.or.kr), and the Agricultural e-Government portal (https://nongupez.go.kr).

The public was urged to stay updated via TV, radio, emergency alerts and official notices.

"Each administrative agency is implementing manual processing, alternative procedures, deadline extensions and retroactive application based on continuity plans to minimize any inconvenience to the public," the ministry said.

"The government is mobilizing all available resources to restore services as quickly as possible and will do everything it can to minimize public inconvenience," Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung added.

Postal services were largely disrupted.

The Korea Post, under the Ministry of Science and ICT, also reported widespread disruptions in both postal and financial services due to the NIRS fire.

Online postal services and financial operations - including deposits, withdrawals, transfers and insurance-related transactions - were suspended. The agency said it was using all available resources to resume operations as soon as possible.

With the Chuseok holiday approaching, the outage has raised concerns of a postal crisis due to a surge in parcel demand.

Parcels scheduled for delivery on Friday were being processed using an offline system. A Korea Post official said deliveries could proceed as delivery terminals (PDAs) can function even without internet access.

However, as post office counters are typically closed on Saturdays, deliveries were being made using pre-registered data. If the system remains down into next week, all parcel processing may need to be done manually, which is likely to result in delays.

All financial services at post offices, including ATM use and insurance payments, have been suspended.

Korea Post said the outage would not affect the status of existing accounts or insurance contracts. It also pledged to ensure that delays in premium payments or loan repayments due to the disruption would not negatively affect customers.

Fire officials said the use of water was limited due to the risk of damaging sensitive national data. Instead, firefighters initially used gas-based suppression systems such as carbon dioxide, which delayed progress. As the fire reignited, the team eventually resorted to removing batteries manually and conducting minimal water-based suppression.

The fire occurred during a power shutdown for a battery replacement operation. One worker sustained first-degree burns to the face and arm.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.