[Editorial] In search of transcript

A search for the transcript of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s 2007 summit dialogue with Kim Jong-il, which has been conducted at the National Archives of Korea for several days, has produced no tangible result yet. A criminal investigation will have to start if the transcript, stored electronically, is not found in the near future.

Mystery shrouds the missing file, one of the two produced by the National Intelligence Service. Raised are so many questions, whose answers, when made, will have serious ramifications, given that the search for the file resulted from the dispute between rival parties over whether the late president offered to make a concession on the Northern Limit Line ― the de facto inter-Korean border in the West Sea.

Shortly after the summit, the intelligence agency transcribed the tape-recording of the late president’s dialogue with his North Korean counterpart, held one transcript in its possession and sent the other to the presidential office. Roh’s secretaries say the transcript was sent to the government archives.

The question that comes first is whether or not the presidential office sent the transcript to the archives. Roh’s secretaries say the transcript was put in the e-Jiwon file management system, which was in use at the presidential office at the time, and sent it to the archives. If not, the omission may have been a simple mistake rather than a deliberate act. Given that the other transcript was kept by the intelligence agency, ill-intentioned people may have had little to gain from the destruction of the computer file.

Assuming that the archives keeps the transcript in its own PAMS file management system, is it possible that access is denied for one reason or another? This possibility cannot be ruled out, given the remarks of one of Roh’s secretaries, who said some sensitive materials were given no indicative headings or no headings at all. An archives official was quoted as saying no search had yet been conducted on such content.

Some raise the possibility of the transcript file having been deleted from the archives’ computer system. The chances are slim, however, given that such an attempt would leave a trace. Here again, no one had much to gain, with the other transcript kept at the intelligence agency.

The National Archives of Korea has been given until Monday. If it fails to find the missing file, the National Assembly will have to take a relevant course of action, which should include a criminal investigation by the prosecution.

The ruling Saenuri Party and the opposition Democratic Party will do well to stop pointing fingers at each other until all the facts are established about the missing file and its content. Moreover, the transcript kept by the intelligence agency may serve as a file of last resort in confirming Roh’s remarks on the de facto border.

In the meantime, the parties will do well to take measures to ensure that all files of historical importance are properly kept at the government archives. They need to pay attention to the criticism that the presidential records are not as well managed now as the royal chronicles were during the bygone Joseon era.