How to Establish Local Archives in Korea

외국의 지방기록관과 한국의 지방기록자료관 설립 방향

Based on the "Archives and Records Management of Public Agencies Act" enacted from the year 2000, the Korean local districts, in a near future, will establish local archives. According to this law, the archives of provincial states and municipal cities are to be conserved permanently, whereas the archives of local districts are to be conserved temporally. Subsequently, the important archives that are categorized as the permanent documents will be transferred to the provincial archives. However the Korean local districts, which are well known for long history of self-administration, are better to preserve permanent documents in their own archives. Moreover, it is necessary for the local archives to collect and compile public and private documents as well. Also it is advisable for the local archives to associate with local citizens by holding lectures and exhibitions which would endow the archives a status as the cultural centre for local districts. By doing so, the local archives could be more important to the population for their cultural and practical necessities than the remotely municipal archives. Furthermore, according to the rule of field preservation, it is better to conserve documents in the local archives. If the government will decide to transfer permanent documents to the municipal archives, the local archives are recommended to keep micro-film copy by themselves.