The Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s National Archives announced on the 13th that it has decided to prohibit the disposal of records related to the investigation of the late Chae Soo-geun, Private First Class, at the request of the High-ranking Officials’ Crime Investigation Department. Additionally, records related to the Itaewon disaster, as requested by the Special Investigative Committee for Truth Finding and Prevention of Recurrence regarding the disaster on October 29, will also be preserved.
As a result, records related to Private Chae’s investigation will be preserved for five years starting today. These records pertain to Chae’s death and the investigation of the associated incident, as well as related directives and non-compliance with such directives. Relevant agencies include the Presidential Office, National Security Office, Ministry of National Defense, Military Counterintelligence Command, Navy and Marine Corps Command, National Police Agency, and the Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Police Agency, among others.
For records related to the Itaewon disaster, disposal is prohibited until the conclusion of the activities of the Special Investigative Committee. The records covered are those dating from five years prior to the Itaewon disaster occurrence on October 29, 2022, up to the end of the Committee’s activities. Relevant institutions include the Presidential Office, National Security Office, Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, National Police Agency, Fire Agency, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Yongsan District of Seoul, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Seoul Metro.
The Crime Investigation Department made a request for the prohibition of record disposal in July 2023, and the Special Investigative Committee in October 2022. Under Article 27-3 of the Public Records Management Act, disposal prohibition is implemented for records nearing the end of their retention period or for which the period has already expired. This applies to records related to the Chae case and the Itaewon disaster, which are nearing or have passed their retention expiration.
The National Archives decided that these disposal prohibition requests meet the requirements and decided to prohibit the disposal of related records and issue a public notice. After the announcement, it plans to ensure that relevant records are not disposed of by requiring advance submission of lists during record evaluations by the relevant agencies, confirming the inclusion of the targeted records, and conducting on-site inspections.