• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.7-30
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• 2013

The study aims at providing alternative strategies for ongoing issues concerning presidential records. It reviews a history of legislation about presidential records management and discusses issues on protection and disclosure of access-restricted presidential records. Four major issues-presidential records' category, management authority, designated representative, and production control-are argued. As a result, this study proposes solutions to guarantee the independence of presidential records management agency and to innovate a presidential records management process.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.79
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• pp.205-230
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• 2024

This study examined the disclosure and utilization of presidential records by the Presidential Archives in order to expand the use of presidential records. In addition, as issues for the disclosure and expansion of the use of presidential records, the disclosure and provision of the original text, the cancellation and disclosure of designated records, the expansion and reinforcement of research and utilization support, and content were confirmed. In addition, as issues and implications for resolving these three issues, the redesign of the presidential records management work, the revision of the Presidential Records Act, expert collaboration and research, and the preparation of mid- to long-term work plans were suggested.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.18
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• pp.281-315
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• 2008

This paper reviews recent records issues surrounding former president Roh Moo-Hyun's private possession of the copies of the presidential records in Korea. While the former president transferred his records to the National Archives of Korea, he copied his electronic presidential records and kept them in his house after the term. His retention of the "records copies" arouse critical records issues and criminal charges. In this paper, I examined the definition of presidential records and legal status of records copies, authenticity of electronic copies of public records in public and private records systems, nature and scope of presidential privilege of access to his records, and most importantly, political neutrality of national archives. I examined these issues comparing with foreign experience, especially that of the United States which has the Presidential Records Act like Korea. All issues are examined in the professional spirit of archives principles and archives ethics. Legal status of the electronic copies of presidential records is not firmly established and the criminal charge seems groundless. However, it is against public archives principles and ethics that private former president privately possesses and manages private information and national security information held in the electronic copies of the presidential records. Presidential Records Act of Korea provides an effective tool to protect the presidential records for 15 years and it should be respected. It is time to consolidate the public records management institutions in Korea, not to disintegrate them.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.77
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• pp.5-36
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• 2023

In the Republic of Korea, which has adopted a strong president-centered system as a political system, comprehensive personnel verification of work ability, reputation, and misconduct for positions where the president has personnel rights is not only fundamental to the administration of the country, but is also very important for maintaining the democratic system. As the records containing the personnel verification process produced during this process also has a wide range of data on important people in the country, they themselves are very important national-level information, and there is a great possibility that they will be used as useful materials for studying current national management in future generations. Therefore, it is assumed that after the enactment of the "Act on the Management of Presidential Records" in 2007, Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs of the Office of the President, which were responsible for the personnel verification, designated a wide range of personnel verification records as presidential designated records and transferred them to the Presidential Archives. However, with the launch of the 20th government, the agency responsible for personnel verification changed from Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs of the Office of the President to the "Personnel Information Management Team" of the Ministry of Justice from June 2022, a major change occurred in the personnel verification process that had been maintained and the preservation of related records. This paper examined what personnel verification records are and how they have been preserved and managed, and proposed what issues have arisen at the record management level due to this change in the agency in charge of personnel verification, and how those issues should be resolved on a practical and institutional level.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.21
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• pp.283-322
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• 2009

Legislation and enforcement of the Presidential Records Management Law was an important turning point in Korean archival management history. In the past, the notion of presidential records was vague. The law was a starting point of establishing presidential records management. The Presidential Records Management Law provides the definition of presidential records and its scope, and establishes the protection of presidential records through restricted access to the records. The key to the law is to enable a president freely to produce records and transfer them to the next administration without omission. In other words, it aims to stop the practice that presidential records are produced but never be left. But, 'disputes over the release of presidential records' and the disclosing of access-restricted presidential records presented a crisis to national records management as well as the prospect of presidential records management, even if they were 'legal procedures.' The instability of presidential records management could give a serious impact on the national records management and its operation. Amid this situation, it is required to review the presidential records management system and provide recommendations for improvement, even if the enforcement of law has just started. The most urgent things in improving presidential records management are to secure its independence, specialty, and to complement restricted access to presidential records. For securing independency, presidential records management should be done by a separate organization other than the National Archives of Korea while for promoting specialty, a newly established organization could serve as a professional archive. And for complementing restricted access to the presidential records, the access should be more limited. In other words, more discretion is needed in permitting access. And more specific regulations should be applied to the permitted records. However, these regulatory actions may not have effects unless independency is not secured. Thus, more fundamentally, independency of the National Archives of Korea should be first established.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.65
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• pp.47-88
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• 2020

Moon Jae-in as the government was launching new records & Archives management innovation is promoted. It was necessary to overhaul the Presidential Records & Archives Act and resolve the issues so far. The key issues include the establishment of individual presidential archives and the guarantee of access to former presidents. The current administration of presidential records is being carried out in the position of a manager (agency). The system's biggest "customers" are discussing management difficulties, even though they are former presidents. Record management should be a customer-centered information service. The "core customer" of managing presidential records is the former president. Another important problem is to separate the Presidential Archives from the National Archives to strengthen its status.

• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.18
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• pp.257-280
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• 2008

The purpose of this paper is reviewing the hot issue called 'draining away the presidential records' case occurred recently and finding the root cause why the state of affairs has been happened in Korea. Though the presidential records management law ensures the rights for the prior president to view his presidential records, the prior president has copied his presidential records produced while in office and moved to his private house at his retirement. He might have interpreted his right to his presidential records too broadly and done the 'draining away' them. There was a motive why the prior president did that at that time. The reason was because the National Archives didn't guarantee the services for right viewing the records to him who wanted to review his records from right after his retirement. The National Archives have judged the draining away the prior presidential records as illegal and accused a few public servants suspected to be responsible for the affairs. The formal accuser is the National Archives, but the actual accuser might be the current Presidential Secretariat. Whatever the results of juristic judgement are, the reason why the records management field should focus and treat this case importantly is that the collapse possibility of the protection wall needed essentially and critically to the Presidential records becomes very high. The root cause of this case might exist in the fact that the records and archives management organizations have not owned the political independence. But the National Archives has submitted the revised bill of the public records and archives management law which lower the position of the National Records Management Committee controlled under from the Prime Minister to the Ministry of Administration and Security. It might be hot concern that the records and archives management organizations have difficulty for keeping the political independence if the revision would be passed. Besides the political independence factor, the most important factor needed for the right records management is the establishing the professional specificity of records management. The specific action for the establishing professional specificity would be employing of specialists and introducing the open official appointment. But it was found from the reorganization after the governmental change that the professional specificity of the National Archives have been reduced. Although the policies introduced by the new government are worrying, it might be an inheritance from the prior government. If new government would build establish the institution for the political independence of the records and archives management organizations and expand the employment of the records management professions to the local government, these affairs can be not only the responsibilities but also the achievements of the new government.