Shame on the touted ‘digital government’

The breakdown of the electronic administrative network that suspended the issuance of all civil documents has gravely smeared Korea’s reputation as an IT powerhouse. The crash of the Saeol administrative network, which is used by government officials to issue basic civil documents such as resident registration certificates, stopped their everyday duties. The hiccup caused confusion across the country, even as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety led emergency repairs.

The ministry found that an equipment flaw in its network upgrading was the source of the system failure and normalized everyday operations by replacing the problematic equipment. But regardless of its fast resolution, such a failure itself cannot be taken lightly.

The government’s upgrades to its electronic administrative system have caused disruptions several times before. Breakdowns have been commonplace since the government fully turned digital amid non-contact and distancing norms during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the public was asked to book vaccine shots online in July of 2021, the task became frustrating and tiring due to frequent disruptions caused by heavy traffic. The same hassle arose with the mobile pass consumers had to show to get into restaurants and indoor facilities during December’s strict distancing period. The government again blamed the failure on traffic congestion. The upgraded electronic welfare system introduced in October last year did not work well, and the National Education Information System, established at a cost of 280 billion won ($216 million) to facilitate digital and remote education, crashed in June.

Excuse-making, at every disruption, brought about the dysfunction in Government24, the government’s one-stop civil service portal. The body has failed in its duty and role as the supervisor of administrative information by failing to identify and fix the network failure’s causes in a timely manner.

To add to its chagrin, Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min was recently on an overseas tour to promote the country’s edge in digital administration. Before leaving for his mission, Lee vowed to work towards the goal of making the government’s Digital Bill of Rights a “global standard” for governments around the world. But his campaign was cut short, as he had to hurriedly return home from Lisbon, Portugal to tend to the fiasco at home.

Despite the eventual normalization of the system, a rush of traffic due to delays in civil services can cause errors at any time. We hope the ministry lives up to the promise on its homepage to deliver a digital platform that can provide government services anywhere and at any time.