‘Governance’ is a subject that is widely discussed these days in the government and the academic world. I think that the new concept, ‘governance’, is a strategy to develop the democracy of the society in its institutional and functional aspects.
When we are going to discuss about governance, public records and their relationships, without understanding the meaning of ‘public’ in Korea, we cannot expect to discuss the matter precisely. It is said that Korean public service sectors are awash with authoritarianism and unreasonableness, and that they are at the center of seething corruption and bribe scandals.
It is the legacy that the regimes adopted in the aftermath of the Japanese colonial rule for 35 years. The colonial legacy included not simply the practice of the Japanese colony, but also people who had collaborated the Japanese. The American military government and Rhee, Sung-Man regime also appointed the same officials to government posts. As was the same case in other areas including economy, press, education, politics, law, etc.
In this point of view, “Righting historical wrongs”, a controversial issue now in Korea, aims at establishing the right relationships between an individual and the public, and eventually laying the foundation of democracy for future generation, a procedure of achieving good governance.
Apparently, Korea has made progress in developing democracy, as well as