• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.45
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• pp.121-153
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• 2015

Struggles to gain acknowledgement of identity have a characteristic of movement to recover human dignity. Participants in this movement come to confirm themselves as the subject of rights and communicate one another, free from oppression. Being guaranteed the opportunity to participate in the public opinion formation process is an indispensable element of human rights. In 1980, though it was short and incomplete, Gwangju experienced communal autonomy under the condition that state power was temporarily stopped. The contents and memories of the Gwangju Democratization Movement that intended to protect autonomy of civil society, resisting pillage of state power, remain intact in the 1980 Archives for the May 18th. The 5.18 archives were registered in UNESCO's Memory of the World in 2011, with its value of human rights and protection of democracy being acknowledged. The 5.18 archives have memories of resistance and struggles for justice, and sacrifices and pains of citizens under oppressive political authority in Gwangju, 1980. Thus, these archives are related to the historical struggles for democracy, and suggest a lesson on the transition process towards democracy to us. Preservation and utilization of the documentary heritage constantly lead the memories of historical events to the present, and enable exchanges of experiences and ideas between the present and the future. This study, through the process of UNESCO's Memory of the World registration and post-registration process, beyond the value of archives, tries to examine how historical events are led to the present, through the archives and to discuss the other values of archives.