Presidential Archives open in Sejong City

A new archive for presidential records and documents opened in Sejong City on Jan. 14.

All the records previously preserved at the National Archives of Korea in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province, have now been moved to this new building, constructed between 2013 and 2015.

President Park Geun-hye visited the archives for its opening ceremony. “Presidential records reflect the governing philosophies of each administration and help to shed light on the significant policy decisions made by the presidents. They are the cradle of Korean history and a lighthouse for our descendants,” said the president during her congratulatory remarks. She also said that she hopes the opening of these new Presidential Archives would be an opportunity to improve upon Korea’s traditions of recording and building archives, also hoping that today’s nation would succeed even better at that tradition.

Finally, the president said that Korea’s archive system, along with online government services and the New Community Movement, or Saemaeul Undong, would inspire the outside world because of Korea’s administration system, and would contribute to “cultural prosperity,” one of the government’s goals.

The new Presidential Archives, located near Sejong Lake Park in Sejong City, are home to about 20 million presidential records. It includes paper documents, audio and video clips and even Web pages, as well as gifts from state guests. Visitors can see most of the pictures, videos, handwritten letters and gifts from summit meetings, as they will be open to the public. Some confidential documents, however, will not be open to the public.

The archives will fully open to the public during the Lunar New Year’s Day holiday in early February, and there will be a preliminary opening in late January.

By Chang Iou-chung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Ministry of the Interior, Cheong Wa Dae
icchang@korea.kr