KAKAO’S RESPONSE TO DATA CENTER FIRE

[Anchor Lead]

With restoration efforts taking longer than expected, Kakao has come under fire for its response. The company says the incident was an unforeseeable disaster.

[Pkg]

Kakao has four data centers. The key one located in Pangyo has 32,000 servers. When a power outage occurs there, the remaining three centers are supposed to restore data and resume services. But this process was delayed, resulting in long hours of service disruptions.

[Soundbite] (Information and Communication industry insider) : "When power outages occur, duplicated equipment disperses info to other facilities and transfers services in real time. A delay in restoration means the data center was not duplicated."

Kakao's reserve system used in times of emergency and disasters was not designed to deal with fires.

[Soundbite] Yang Hyun-seo(Kakao Vice President) : "We have an expected risk scenario, but fires are difficult to predict."

It's also unclear if the company's other data centers had servers with sufficient capacities. Kakao has only disclosed some of their locations and said nothing about whether it has invested sufficiently in facilities.

[Soundbite] Park Jong-moon(Information and Communication Professional Engineer) : "Facility investment should include disaster restoration centers as well. But Kakao probably did not invest proactively in this aspect."

Under the current law, Kakao is classified as a value-added telecommunications service provider. Unlike broadcasting and telecommunication companies, it's not required to submit disaster response plans, which include duplication of equipment, or receive inspections. Two years ago lawmakers pushed for legislating relevant laws, but those efforts were scrapped due to controversy over excessive regulation.

[Soundbite] Lee Jong-ho(Minister of Science and ICT) : "Even though it has been regarded less important than key telecommunication services, the lack of stability can cause inconveniences in daily life and paralyze economic and social activities. That’s why the gov‘t takes this situation very seriously."

The government plans to step up inspection of disaster response systems. Kakao has set up an emergency committee to clarify the cause of delay in service restoration and devise compensation measures.