My Impression of Korea - Korea.net

NATIONAL
A researcher deoxidizes documents before storing them
A staff member edits a video
A restoration team fixes damaged documents
time-consuming work that even the
well-trained professionals there can
only amend one item per day.
“Korea has one of the top skills in
this field,” says Ko Yeon-suk, a curator
in the Records Restoration Room.
The Archive is armed with protection
systems to prevent theft or corrosion.
The walls and roof are double
layered to maintain the right temperature
and humidity, and the walls of
the repository are made with copperplate
on the inside to intercept electromagnetic
waves.
In case of a fire, inergen sprays out
in the repository instead of water to
protect the documents. A radio-frequency
identification system keeps
track of all the documents.
There are two exposition rooms on
the first floor, the state exposition
hall, which briefly exhibits the
archival history of Korea, and the
presidential exposition hall.
The presidential exposition hall has
six sections. The section called “Presidents
with the People” shows photos
and video clips of the presidents being
with the people. “The Chronological
Presidential History” introduces brief
records of each president.
“Presidents’ National Administration
Records” exhibits documents and video
clips of important presidential affairs.
“Presents from World Leaders” displays
various souvenirs the presidents received
from overseas.
Some corners are for children. At
the “Be a President” section, the president’s
office is prepared for children
to take photos in. “Children, the
Leaders of the Future” informs children
about the administrations’
processes through flash animation.
Now that a great amount of presidential
records are fashioned online,
the National Archives of Korea constructed
the Presidential Web Records
Service last July. It will start service
next year.
The National Archives of Korea is
on its first steps to introduce Korean
archival culture to the world. It held
the International Archives Exhibition
& Conference 2008 from Oct. 30 to
Nov. 1 at COEX in southern Seoul. It
is planning on hosting the
International Archives Culture Expo
2010 in Korea.
For more information, visit
www.pa.go.kr ■
(Photos by The Korea Herald)
(From top) A staff member looks through documents in the repository
Visitors look at the gifts presidents received from world leaders
22 KOREA NOVEMBER 2008
NOVEMBER 2008 KOREA 23