Preventing the second Kakao crisis... South Korea's government establishes 'Digital Crisis Management Headquarters'

To prevent secondary Kakao's shutdown, 'Digital Crisis Management Headquarters' will be established by Korean government.

Due to a fire at 'SK C&C Pangyo' Data Center, major Kakao services such as Kakao Talk, Kakao Pay, and Kakao T were simultaneously stopped, and the Republic of Korea stopped for a long time. Although it is not a national key communication network, it is a blackout in which the national key level communication network equivalent to this is stopped in an instant.

Digital Crisis Management Headquarters will be established at October 21st

Therefore, the Korean government will establish the ‘Digital Crisis Management Headquarters’ to create a full-cycle inspection and management system for disaster prevention, training, response, and recovery of digital infrastructure and services. The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the October 21st that it will prepare future countermeasures along with an analysis of the cause of the Kakao service failure with experts from related ministries and the private sector.

How long will the Kakao service be restored

The Ministry of Science and ICT explained that the emergency restoration of SK C&C's data center power facilities has been completed and 100% of the basic power for server operation is being supplied in relation to the urgently promoted damage recovery. It also explained that most of Kakao services have recovered to pre-accident levels.

Government's plans for the future

Including data centers and digital services, which have been in the blind spot until now, into the government's disaster response system, the government will promote improvements in the legal system so that it can be systematically carried out from the establishment of a protection plan to regular inspections and joint training. In the mid- to long-term, strategically develop and apply technology to improve the stability and safety of digital services. In particular, it will promote the development of all-solid-state batteries with low fire risk and satellite internet technology that can be used anywhere in preparation for communication disasters. At the same time, rather than creating an organization to respond to every accident, the tentative “Digital Crisis Management Headquarters” will be operated at all times to create a full-cycle inspection and management system such as disaster prevention, training, response, and recovery of digital infrastructure and services.