domain name system - dns external lookup servfail

I assure you I have searched far and wide for a clue to this problem! I have a DNS server running CentOS 5.5 and BIND 9.3. Most external lookups work fine, but lookups on one particular domain returns SERVFAIL.

• dig @127.0.0.1 google.com -- works fine !


• dig @127.0.0.1 athleta.com -- works fine !


• dig @127.0.0.1 anythingelse.com -- works fine !


• dig @127.0.0.1 bistel.co.uk -- gives SERVFAIL error

There is no reference to co.uk in any of my DNS configuration files - I never even heard of it until this problem came to my attention.

If I start using dig at a root nameserver and "work my way down", so to speak, lookups are working fine at each step. Here I start at a root nameserver and it refers me to nameserver g.dns.kr. :

dig @a.root-servers.net. bistel.co.kr
    . . .. . .
    ;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
    kr.                     172800  IN      NS      g.dns.kr.
    . . .. . .
    ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
    g.dns.kr.               172800  IN      A       202.31.190.1
    . . .. . .

Next I send my query to nameserver g.dns.kr. and it refers me to nameserver bistel.co.kr :

    > dig @g.dns.kr. bistel.co.kr
    . . .. . .
    ;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
    bistel.co.kr.           86400   IN      NS      ns.bistel.co.kr.
    . . .. . .
    ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
    ns.bistel.co.kr.        86400   IN      A       1.227.57.68

    . . .. . .

Finally I send my query to ns.bistel.co.kr. and I get the address data I was seeking:

    > dig @ns.bistel.co.kr. bistel.co.kr
    . . .. . .
    ;; ANSWER SECTION:
    bistel.co.kr.           600     IN      A       1.227.57.69
    bistel.co.kr.           600     IN      A       1.227.57.68

    bistel.co.kr.           600     IN      A       1.227.57.74
    . . .. . .

If I search for some other domain, as I mentioned in the introduction, there is success - for example :

    > dig @127.0.0.1 athleta.com
    . . .. . .
    ;; ANSWER SECTION:
    athleta.com.            1690    IN      A       198.153.202.150

    . . .. . .

But for the domain bistel.co.kr, I'm out of luck:

    > dig @127.0.0.1 bistel.co.kr

    ; <<>> DiG 9.3.6-P1-RedHat-9.3.6-20.P1.el5 <<>> @127.0.0.1 bistel.co.kr
    ; (1 server found)
    ;; global options:  printcmd

    ;; Got answer:
    ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: SERVFAIL, id: 19191
    ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

    ;; QUESTION SECTION:
    ;bistel.co.kr.                  IN      A

    ;; Query time: 2 msec
    ;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
    ;; WHEN: Wed Sep 17 20:21:52 2014

    ;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 30

I tried enabling logging in the following manner :

    logging {
            channel default_file {
                    file "/var/log/named.log" size 10m;
                    severity info;
                    print-time yes;

                    print-severity yes;
                    print-category yes;
            };
            category default{ default_file; };
    };

Then I issued "dig @127.0.0.1 athleta.com" (SUCCESS) and "dig @127.0.0.1 bistel.co.kr" (SERVFAIL). The only relevant entries in /var/log/named.log were as follows.

    > grep athleta /var/log/named.log

    17-Sep-2014 20:26:34.812 lame-servers: info: network unreachable resolving 'athleta.com/A/IN': 2610:a1:1015::1#53
    17-Sep-2014 20:26:34.826 lame-servers: info: network unreachable resolving 'athleta.com/A/IN': 2001:502:f3ff::1#53

    > grep bistel /var/log/named.log
    17-Sep-2014 20:26:38.693 lame-servers: info: network unreachable resolving 'bistel.co.kr/A/IN': 2001:503:ba3e::2:30#53
    17-Sep-2014 20:26:38.693 lame-servers: info: network unreachable resolving 'bistel.co.kr/A/IN': 2001:500:84::b#53
    17-Sep-2014 20:26:38.693 lame-servers: info: network unreachable resolving 'bistel.co.kr/A/IN': 2001:500:2::c#53
    17-Sep-2014 20:26:40.769 lame-servers: info: network unreachable resolving 'bistel.co.kr/A/IN': 2001:dc5:a::1#53

I thank you sincerely for reading my inquiry and hope you can guide me to a clue!

BR,
Janet