공공기록물 관리에 있어 이명박정부의 책임과 ‘업적’

Abstract

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.