(2nd LD) Gov't administrative network fully restored after major disruption

▲ A community service center official works at her office in Seoul on Nov. 19, 2023, as a system failure at the network center caused a major disruption in public access to government-approved documents. (Yonhap)

▲ Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (L) presides over an on-site meeting at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, 139 kilometers south of Seoul, to check on the operations to restore the system on Nov. 18, 2023, in this photo provided by Han's office, a day after the major system failure in the government administrative network caused massive disruptions in public access to the government-approved documents. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) govt admin service-disruption

(2nd LD) Gov't administrative network fully restored after major disruption

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead with full restoration; ADDS more details, comments in paras 2-4, 10-12, additional photo)

SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- The government's administrative network was fully put back on normal operation Sunday two days after a major system failure that had disrupted public access to state-approved papers, the interior ministry said.

On Friday, the Saeol administrative network, a system used by public workers to access government-approved documents, and the widely used online Government 24 portal broke down due to a suspected issue with equipment failure, causing massive delays in and disruptions to both offline and online issuances of civil documents.

The system and the service were resumed early Sunday and have been running smoothly, processing some 240,000 cases of requests for civil documents, such as birth certificates and resident registration papers, according to the ministry.

"Our two-day investigation confirmed no issues and disruptions with the service and system. They are now fully restored," Vice Interior Minister Ko Ki-dong told a press briefing.

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min visited the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) in Daejeon, 139 kilometers south of Seoul, Sunday where the network control center is located, and presided over a meeting to discuss the system breakdown with related agencies.

More than 100 government officials and private technicians were sent to the NIRS to restore the servers and network systems following the system failure.

Officials said they had replaced some of the network equipment believed to have caused the system breakdown and conducted several tests at local community centers to see if the on-site issuance of the documents was working as normal.

The Government 24 portal was temporarily restored on Saturday and accessible both on the web and mobile.

IT experts dispatched to the NIRS are trying to determine the exact cause of the system failure, officials said. A possible error from a recent system upgrade has been cited as a likely reason for the system failure.

Lee also visited a community service center in Seoul and checked the document issuance service.

"The government will continue to check the system and monitor the situation," Lee said, pointing to the possibility of a surge in demand for the administrative service following the suspension.

Asked about a probe into what is to blame for the unprecedented incident, Led simply said, "We will explain details later."

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