Ex-President Park's records transferred to state archives

By a2017001

Published : May 11, 2017 - 17:00 Updated : May 11, 2017 - 17:00

Former President Park Geun-hye's official documents have all been transferred to the state archives, officials said Thursday.

The transfer of 11.06 million records created at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and other agencies was completed as of Tuesday, according to the Presidential Archives under the National Archives of Korea.

It said 9.34 million files were electronic and the other 1.72 million were hard copies.

This combined image, provided by the National Archives of Korea on May 11, 2017, shows the transfer operation of former President Park Geun-hye's official documents. (Yonhap)

The archives began the transfer last month with an aim to complete it before the launch of the new president's official term Wednesday.

President Moon Jae-in's five-year term began immediately as the rare presidential by-election on Tuesday was aimed at filling the top elected office after Park was ousted in a corruption scandal.

Of the total documents, 204,000, or 1.8 percent, have been designated as restricted access for a period of 15 years, or up to 30 years.

By law, the president can designate such records. The authority was given to former Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn after Park was impeached by the parliament on Dec. 9.

The number is less than 260,000 documents from the Lee Myung-bak administration and 340,000 from the Roh Moo-hyun administration, the archives said.

Some critics have voiced concerns over possible access restriction to documents that may hold key evidence in relation to the presidential scandal.

Park was arrested and indicted over a string of allegations involving her friend and aides. The first hearing on the ex-president is slated for May 23. (Yonhap)