It is reported that President Yoon Seok-yeol was concerned about the suspension of KakaoTalk service last weekend, saying, "What will happen if KakaoTalk becomes unavailable in an emergency such as war?"



President Yoon said this yesterday (17th) during a meeting of the president's chief secretaries, "Isn't everyone using KakaoTalk, and even public institutions?" A key official in the presidential office told Yonhap News and on the phone today.



The official explained, "It was pointed out that it would be difficult if the country was paralyzed and unable to operate normally due to the communication network when such a serious emergency occurs."



"There could be an intentional attack from the outside, and you have to consider and look into all those assumptions," he added.



It is interpreted as pointing out that the government did not properly recognize the influence of KakaoTalk as the de facto national key communication network, and that there were no countermeasures for paralysis in case of emergency.



As an extension of that line, President Yoon said he repeatedly ordered to find out the exact circumstances and improve the system so that a situation like this would not happen again.



In particular, he is known to have focused on complementary measures in the technical aspect to prevent public confusion.



In case of emergency, even if the existing electricity supply or internet network is cut off, it is necessary to prepare in advance a 'Plan B' that allows people to communicate smoothly with each other.



However, it is reported that President Yoon did not reiterate the monopoly issue of Kakao and Naver, which he mentioned in a question and answer on his way to work yesterday, at the staff meeting.



An official from the presidential office said in a phone call, "The issue of monopoly and oligopoly will be in the direction of the Fair Trade Commission reviewing how to revise the law enforcement standards by reflecting the characteristics of the platform."



On the other hand, it is known that the government is considering a plan to establish a permanent broadcasting and communications disaster countermeasures headquarters directly under the Minister of Science, Technology and Information and Communication in relation to follow-up measures.



There are many ways to have the Ministry of Science and Technology, the department in charge of information and communications technology (ICT), continue to play the role of a de facto control tower to build a stable communication infrastructure for the people.



Apart from this incident, which was triggered by shutting off the data center power to extinguish the fire, the Cyber ​​Security Secretary's Office under the National Security Office decided to discuss countermeasures in preparation for a possible hacking attack.



"Fire is a disaster, and hacking is classified as terrorism in the security aspect," a high-ranking official at the presidential office said in a phone call.



Regarding the launch of the Cybersecurity Task Force (TF), he added, "As an extension of preventing the recurrence of the situation, we have decided to address possible security risks as well."



(Photo=Presidential Office Correspondent Photo Reporters, Yonhap News)