Political democracy and archival development in the management of presidential records in the republic of Korea

American Archivist

Volumn 69, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 117-138

  Lee, Kyong Rae ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 67349201472     PISSN: 03609081     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.17723/aarc.69.1.e8q25q2rk075138n     Document Type: Article

References (48)

1. As for North Korea, since the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1948 it has developed its own archival management system that differs from that of other socialist states, as well as from that of the Republic of Korea. Developed under conditions of a highly centralized, planned economy, constant preparation for war, and extreme secrecy, it focuses mainly on the management of the records of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jung-il's businesses, their ideas, and their everyday lives, and the records of "the people's" (class) struggle. The archival system for war preparation created the rear stack room system in addition to the original stack room. In war time, public records are supposed to be moved to a rear stack room for their intact preservation. Despite its early accomplishments in public records management such as the start of records collection in 1947 and the establishment of a "National Archives" in 1962, its major development began in the 1980s under the direct leadership of Kim Jung-il. There is academic training (for four years) for qualified archivists in the History Department in Kim Il-sung University. See Sang-min Lee, "The Public Records Management in North Korea" (in Korean), Archives 15 (2002): 49-61.
2. Carter J. Eckert, et al., Korea Old and New: A History, Korea Institute, Harvard University (Seoul: Ilchokak Publishers, 1990), 359.
3. As for other administrative records, the foreign-related records of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the records of the Ministry of National Defense, and those of the National Institute of Korean History (which included ancient documents and public records with historical value) were managed by different regulations. See Man-yul Lee, "The Realities of the Management of Public Records in Korea" (in Korean), paper at the Founding Symposium of the Research Institute for Korean Archives and Records: The Reality and the Future of Management of National Records (Seoul: International Conference Room of the Press Center, 1999).
4. This incident was a mutiny against the army on 12 December 1979, by Jeon Doo-hwan, who was in charge of the Army Security Command at that time. This action can be seen as the step that precipitated Jeon's seizure of political power after Park's assassination. See Eckert, et al., Korea Old and New, 373.
5. Man-yul Lee, "The Realities of the Management of Public Records in Korea." Due to its absurdity, this system was replaced by the Standard Table for Records Classification in January 2004 (according to an Additional Rule of the Enforcement Decree of Public Records Management Act).
6. "The Transfer of Kim Dae-jung's Presidential Records to the GARS No Later than January 10 of Next Year" (in Korean), Chosun-Ilbo, 22 November 2002.
7. Gun-hong Kwak, The Theory and Reality in Management of Public Records in Korea (in Korean) (Seoul: Yuksabipyongsa), 124.
8. Gun-hong Kwak, The Theory and Reality, 124.
9. Kyong-yong Lee, "The Management System of Public Records in Korea from the Establishment of the Republic of Korea to 1969" (in Korean), Archives 15 (2002): 41.
10. Kyong-yong Lee, "The Management System of Public Records," 29-35. These changes in the responsible agency from the Archives and Documents Division of the Ministry of Government Administration, to the General Affairs Division of the House of State Affairs, then to the General Affairs Division under the Cabinet Executive Office, and finally to the Office of General Affairs of the Ministry of Government Administration-followed on the reorganization of government agencies from the House of State Affairs system to the cabinet system after the military coup of 16 May 1961, and then to the presidential responsibility system that resulted from an amendment to the constitution in 1963.
11. The Prescription for Affairs Transaction of Government Agencies of 1949, no. 70.
12. "Establish an Archive Instead of a Memorial Institution," Hankyoreh, 7 August 2003.
13. "Presidential Records that Were Discarded," Chosun Il Bo, 14 January 2002.
14. "Investigation Project: A Nation Without Records, Part I, Section 1: The Public Records Do Not Exist" (in Korean), Segye Times, 31 May 2004.
15. The ADIPA, Article 1 (Purpose).
16. The ADIPA, Article 7 (Non-Disclosure of Information), 1-8.
17. Act Number 4012, Article 4.
18. "The Rapid Increase of Information Disclosure Denial in Public Agencies" (in Korean), Dae-han maeil, 20 September 2002.
19. "Reliability of Intelligence Documents Questioned" (in Korean), Korea Times, 20 March 1998.
20. Sun-young Kim, "The Enactment of the Law for Records Management and the Settlement of Records Custodial System" (in Korean), Archives 12 (1999): 23.
21. Act Number 5709 and Presidential Decree Number 17050.
22. The PRMA, Article 1 (Purpose).
23. The PRMA, Article 13 (Records Management) 1.
24. The PRMA, Article 13-3, 4.
25. The Enforcement Decree of PRMA, Article 28-2, 3.
26. Ordinance of the Minister of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) Number 0019, the Enforcement Ordinance of PRMA, Article 15-1.
27. The PRMA, Article 12 (Records Management).
28. The PRMA, Article 13-2.
29. The PRMA, Article 8 (Presidential Archives).
30. The PRMA, Article 9 (Records Center)1.
31. "The Reason Why We Have Too Many Secret Papers" (in Korean), Dong-A Il Bo, 27 February 2003.
32. Hyung-kuk Kim, "The Current Condition and the Reality of the Establishment of Records Centers" (in Korean), Newsletter of the GARS, no.2 (2001), 16.
33. PDPS, "Have There Been Only 1,300 Presidential Records over the Last Four Years?" (in Korean), 17 October 2002, http://www.peoplepower21.org/ article/article-view.php?article-id=2328.
34. The Enforcement Decree of PRMA, Article 8 (The Writing Out of Minutes) 2.
35. In addition, while the original Enforcement Decree of the PRMA required qualified archivists to hold a master's degree or above in an academic area related to archives, MOGAHA's original amendment would have allowed this role to be filled by public officials in administrative agencies who had completed an education program designated by MOGAHA to qualify as archivists; however due to the resistance of academics, the original requirement was maintained intact. PDPS, "MOGAHA's Drive to Pass an Undesirable Amendment to the PRMA" (in Korean), 17 October 2002, http://www. peoplepower21.org/article/article- view.php?article-id=569.
36. PDPS, "Indiscriminate Destruction of Public Records by Public Agencies" (in Korean), 3 September 2003, http://www.peoplepower21.org/ article/article-view.php?article-id=3334.
37. J. Watts, "World's First Internet President Logs On," The Guardian (U.K.), 24 February 2003, 16.
38. Article 7 (Information of Non-Disclosure)-6.
39. Article 28-3.
40. Gun-hong Kwak, "The Direction of Management of Presidential Records and the Role of Archivists" (in Korean), paper at the Kyungnam Symposium of the Research Institute for Korean Archives and Records: Records Culture, Record Custody Institution, and Archivists (Kyungnam: Province Office, 17 November 2003).
41. "The Reality of Public Records Management: Even State Council Meetings Keep No Minutes" (in Korean), Gukmin Il Bo, 2 May 2003.
42. The Enforcement Decree of PRMA, Article 37 (Records Destruction).
43. PDPS, "Indiscriminate Destruction," 3 September 2003.
44. Article 29 (The Preservation and Management of Secret Records) 4-1.
45. Article 4-1.
46. Jae-sun Kim, "The Main Arguing Points and Mediation Surrounding the Enactment of the PRMA" (in Korean), Archives 12 (1999): 23.
47. Seung-hui Lee, "Custody and Problem of Presidential Records" (in Korean), paper at the Second Symposium of the Research Institute for Korean Archives and Records: Looking for Alternative Overcoming Crisis and Malpractice (Seoul: Korean Records Society, 22 May 2002).
48. Interview with Sisa Magazine 2580 (broadcast on MBC-TV) on 4 September 2004.