Yoon Urges "Considering External Cyber Attacks" Amid Administrative Paralysis Crisis

President Yoon Chairs Cabinet Meeting... "Major Inconvenience to Citizens"
Concerns Over Split Orders and Frequent Changes of Management Companies

President Yoon Suk-yeol stated on the 28th regarding the recent administrative network paralysis incident, "We must thoroughly investigate, keeping in mind the possibility of external cyberattacks on public infrastructure systems."

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon presided over a Cabinet meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office and gave this directive, saying, "Recently, the online civil service disruption caused great inconvenience to the public."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 17th, a user authentication error occurred in 'Saeol,' the administrative network of local governments, causing all district offices, community centers nationwide, and even the issuance of civil documents on the government online civil service site 'Government 24' to come to a halt. On the 25th, the government pointed to a malfunction in the network device called a 'router' (a device that connects different networks) as the cause.

However, President Yoon pointed out, "Although the government responded quickly and restored the system, this is not the first time." He emphasized, "We must closely analyze whether recent incidents in public infrastructure IT systems are due to chronic practices such as fragmented contracting and frequent changes of management companies, or if there were issues in system management."

He also kept in mind the possibility of external attacks. President Yoon said, "We must thoroughly investigate, keeping in mind the possibility of external cyberattacks on our public IT systems," and added, "I hope the 'Government Joint Task Force (TF),' led by the National Security Office, conducts a thorough inspection regarding cyberattacks without any gaps."

He reiterated, "We need to identify the root cause to be able to prevent it," and said, "If security is the issue, the security wall must be strengthened, and if management and response are the problems, institutional improvements that allow for organic operation must be implemented immediately." Earlier, while on a trip to the United States on the 17th, President Yoon had instructed the formation of a government joint TF to respond swiftly to the administrative network paralysis incident.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.