A Study on the Record Management of National Archives of Korea

Abstract

In this research the issues of record management of national archives in Korea are classified into four categories: 1) improving the status of the Central Archives of Korea, 2) constructing a new national archives, 3) revising the law on the record management, 4) creating qualifications for a professional administrator for Archivist. 1) In order to strengthen the function of the Central Archives of Korea, it is very urgent to create a systematic mechanism in which the Central Archives oversees and administers public archives(documents) collected from all the public institutions not only under the Administration but also the legislature and the judicial authorities. 2) This paper suggests that a new National Archives should be a symbolic building representing Korea as archives. Considering the fact that Presidents archives will be a part of this new National Archives, it also suggests that artistic and decorative pieces which embody Korea's representative archives or people should be included in the building. The budget for these should be supplied by the government. 3) This paper looks at the matter of revising the law on Record Management in two respects: (1)strengthening the function of the Central Archives of Korea, (2)making it obligatory to produce archives not open to the public, or making a protection clause for secret archives. This paper proposes that the Central Archives of Korea will be able to collect all the public archives from all the public institutions, and to oversee and administer them by revising the 5th and 6th clauses of the current law on the record management. It also proposes that some laws which make it obligatory to produce archives for documents not open to the public, and which protect those secrecy. 4) Regarding the qualifications for a professional administrator for the record management, this paper suggests lowering the qualification a little to the bachelor's degree of the record management. Also it suggests taking into consideration the persons in charge of the record management in public institutions and acknowledging their qualifications after a certain period of training at the Central Archives of Korea or something like that. In addition, it classifies the ranks of the professional administrators according to their qualifications.