Five employees at the National Security Research Institute, a government-funded organization focused on cybersecurity, were found to have accessed a gaming server for over 90 hours during work hours. They reportedly circumvented restrictions to log back in after being blocked.
On October 12, Hwang Jeong-a, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information, and Broadcasting Committee, revealed documents submitted by the National Security Research Institute (NSRI) that showed employees at the Cybersecurity Training Center accessed the StarCraft battle server 'Battle.net' on their work computers from September to December 2024, whenever their manager was on leave or business trips.
The longest recorded access in a single day was 8 hours and 53 minutes, with another employee logged in for 7 hours and 21 minutes. Cumulatively, 90 hours of access equates to more than 11 days of work based on an 8-hour workday.
The center operates separately from the main NSRI building, using an external training line near the main facility in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, which did not have restrictions on gaming servers. Although the experimental internet line was blocked in December of that year, access continued. Investigations revealed that some employees logged back in through the local network connecting the institute's internal systems.
The NSRI became aware of the situation through an internal tip-off. A colleague from the same center reported the issue to the ETRI whistleblower system. The employees stated during the investigation that they accessed the game to unwind after completing a major event, but they clarified that not all the time spent logged in was dedicated to gaming.
The NSRI's disciplinary committee issued a light reprimand to all five employees. Although they initially considered a pay reduction for the employee with the longest access time, who also misused parental leave, they ultimately decided on a reprimand, taking into account the employee's past commendations from the National Research Council of Science and Technology (NST). The time spent logged in was deducted from their annual leave, and employees with insufficient leave had their pay docked.
The whistleblower reported experiencing workplace harassment, but the NSRI concluded through discussions in its grievance committee that the situation did not constitute harassment. Hwang Jeong-a criticized the decision, stating, "It is inappropriate to reduce the penalty to a reprimand despite determining that a pay reduction was necessary. There must be thorough management of duties and strict accountability, as well as a review of the protection system for internal whistleblowers to prevent retaliation."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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