National Archives Offers Free 'Restoration and Duplication Support' Service for Records

March 1st Independence Declaration (1919)

Kim Seung-tae Manse Movement Activist (1919)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 12th, the National Archives of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it will provide a "free customized restoration and duplication service" for historically valuable records held by individuals or private and public institutions.

Modern and contemporary records are being damaged due to processing methods and the fragility of materials, but restoration requires specialized personnel and expensive equipment, leaving them neglected in blind spots of management.

Accordingly, since 2008, the National Archives has been conducting the "restoration and duplication service" with the purpose of raising awareness about the importance of record management and discovering national records left unattended in the private and public sectors. Through this, 8,893 sheets of records from 74 institutions or individuals have been restored to date.

Major examples include the "March 1st Independence Declaration" (Independence Hall), Mr. Joo Si-gyeong's "Sound of Language" (The Korean Language Society), "New Map of the Korean Peninsula" (Dokdo Museum), and "Dong-A Ilbo's page with the Japanese imperial flag erased" (Dong-A Ilbo).

In particular, the "Kim Seung-tae Manse Movement Activist" (1919) record supported for restoration this year was a handwritten document that suffered not only paper damage but also illegibility due to ink loss, requiring a special digital restoration process. In addition, cases supported through the restoration and duplication service can be viewed in detail on the National Archives website, including original texts, before-and-after comparison photos of the records, detailed restoration processes, and treatment techniques.

The application period for this year's customized restoration and duplication service is from the 13th to November 14th, and anyone?individuals, private institutions, or public institutions?can apply for free if the records are nationally valuable and worth preserving.

The finally selected records will undergo sequential restoration work over two years starting in 2022 and will be delivered to the applicants. Choi Jae-hee, Director of the National Archives, said, "We will continue to promote customized restoration and duplication support so that valuable records are not neglected or lost but safely restored and passed on to future generations," and added, "We ask for much interest and applications to restore precious historical records that are being neglected and damaged."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.