Anchor: Police and other government agencies launched a joint inspection on Monday to identify the cause of a fire at South Korea’s major telecommunications company, which paralyzed phone and Internet services, cash machines and in-store payment systems in parts of Seoul over the weekend. 
Lee Bo-kyung has more. 

Report: Police and fire authorities conducted a second on-site inspection Monday of a KT building in the western Seoul district of Ahyeon.

They were joined by inspectors from the National Forensic Service and the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation. 

An initial inspection on Sunday revealed about 80 meters of the 150-meter cable tunnel in the basement had been burnt, but police were unable to determine where the fire started. 

The fire broke out at 11:12 a.m. Saturday at the basement of the building, where the company’s communications equipment is located. The fire was put out completely at around 9: 30 p.m., about ten hours after the first report was made. 

No casualties have been reported, but the blaze caused KT's fixed-lined services, mobile and Internet networks, as well as Internet Protocol TV services to go down in central and western Seoul and parts of Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province.

The operations of coffee shops, convenience stores and restaurants in the areas were also disrupted as the fire paralyzed credit card payment systems that use KT's communications networks.

Fire authorities estimated the fire caused eight billion won in property losses.
 
KT, South Korea’s second largest mobile carrier, is promising to compensate customers affected by the fire. The company says it will exempt affected subscribers of fixed-line and mobile network services from paying one month's bill. 

The company said it will review separate compensation measures for small businesses, pledging efforts to prevent a recurrence and to provide better service.
Lee Bo-kyung, KBS World Radio News.