[Exclusive] 'Record-Low' 37,000 Documents Spark Concealment Controversy...Presidential Office Orders Staff to Transfer Yoon Administration's "Unregistered Records"

Presidential Office Led by Lee Jaemyung Begins Transition Tasks
"Transfer Unregistered Records from the Previous Administration"

On June 4, the day President Lee Jae Myung's term began, officials raised the phoenix flag at the presidential office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. 2025.6.4 Photo by Joint Press Corps

It has been confirmed that the presidential office instructed its internal staff to transfer "unregistered records" from the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. Although the records from the Yoon administration have already been transferred, this directive was issued to check for any additional records from the previous administration that may be discovered, amid ongoing controversy over the concealment of the presidential office website.

According to Asia Economy's coverage on June 5, the presidential office instructed its staff on "major transition tasks from the second day onward," directing them to transfer unregistered records from the previous administration. Unregistered records refer to documents produced or received by public institutions that have not been entered or registered in the management system. Today, each secretary's office is carrying out takeover tasks, and during this process, they must find and transfer any records from the Yoon administration that were not registered. The directive also instructed staff to continue transferring unregistered records from the previous administration if any are discovered in the future.

An official from the presidential office stated, "It is true that administrative officers currently working have been assigned the task of transferring records from the Yoon administration," adding, "In the past, it was not uncommon for unregistered documents to be discovered during the transition of power."

This directive was issued amid controversy over the concealment of presidential records. There are a total of 37,818 web records produced by the Yoon administration's presidential office, the lowest number since the enactment of the Presidential Records Act. This is a significant difference compared to previous administrations: Roh Moo Hyun (1.72 million), Lee Myung Bak (1.02 million), Park Geun Hye (790,000), and Moon Jae In (1.72 million). Furthermore, after President Yoon's removal from office, the website became inaccessible, which led to further allegations of concealment. According to the presidential office and the Presidential Archives, the website records will be made public two to three months later, following consultations with the relevant departments.

Another reason for this directive appears to be the difficulty in fully transferring materials due to President Yoon's removal from office during his term. Under current law, the Presidential Archives begins directly reviewing and cataloging records one year before the president's retirement. This is intended to prevent omissions and misclassification of records, and to stop any attempts by the president to discard unfavorable materials just before leaving office.

However, the Presidential Records Act does not contain any provisions related to impeachment. In the event of a presidential vacancy, it requires the transfer or prohibition of reclassification of records, but when an impeachment motion is passed, the Presidential Archives has no measures it can take. The only action taken was by the National Archives, which, about a month after the impeachment, on January 15, prohibited the destruction of records related to the 12·3 Emergency Martial Law.

Concerns about records have already been raised in the private sector. The Council of Records Management Organizations criticized on May 30, stating, "The Presidential Archives has not actively verified the transferred records and is simply accepting what is given," and questioned, "Is the archive actively managing and transferring records from the acting president?"

According to the Presidential Archives of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, as of June 4, the number of records transferred from President Yoon totaled 13,650,105. These records were produced by 28 presidential record-producing agencies, as well as the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Education, and others. Of these, electronic records accounted for 7.77 million, consisting of 390,000 electronic documents, 6.63 million administrative information datasets, and 740,000 web records.