SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Monday apologized over massive disruptions of online services in South Korea following a fire at a data center run by one of the group's subsidiaries earlier this month.

"I would like to deliver an apology to the people," Chey said during an audit at the parliament's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. "I feel very responsible for the blackout. The entire SK Group is making efforts to deal with the situation."

He was speaking as a witness in the audit after services of Kakao Corp. and Naver Corp., South Korea's two leading tech companies, suffered a massive disruption for days following a fire at the data center of SK C&C on Oct. 15.

The SK affiliate hosts the data center for both Kakao and Naver.

The accident laid bare the vulnerability of a super-connected South Korean society where 43 million out of the country's 51 million people use KakaoTalk. The company's co-CEO Namkoong Whon stepped down in response to the incident. (Yonhap)