Prime Minister Kim Min-seok apologized to the public for any inconvenience due to disruptions to the online government system caused by a fire at the national data infrastructure center.

Presiding over a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Friday, Kim said the public will likely face inconveniences in their daily lives due to delays in processing documentation, petitions and civil complaints amid disruptions in the national information system.

The prime minister said the government is working to swiftly inform the public which government services have been affected, when they will be fully recovered.

He added that an inspection should focus on how the fire started, steps taken in response, and the execution of an emergency response manual to determine the cause and to establish prevention measures.

The fire broke out from a lithium battery inside the uninterruptible power supply(UPS) at the National Information Resources Service(NIRS) in the central city of Daejeon at around 8:20 p.m. Friday, before flames were brought under control at around 6:30 a.m. Saturday.