Abstract

This study examines the relationship between public records and sociopolitical issues by applying text mining techniques to 5,050 news articles related to public records published from 2000 to 2024. The frequency analysis results indicate that news articles primarily focus on incidents, accidents, and political issues rather than public records, with meeting records being the most frequently mentioned record type. In the Bigram network analysis, the main keywords identified were “dialogue records,” “meeting minutes,” “records,” and “Public Records Management Act.” The network clustering analysis revealed three major themes: (1) public records management, (2) inter-Korean summit meeting records, and (3) controversies surrounding the Public Records Management Act. The sentiment analysis results indicate that positive news articles mainly highlight cases of exemplary record management institutions. Conversely, negative articles focused on Public Records Management Act violations and records management deficiencies. Finally, the study compared research trends with findings from the news article analysis and provided policy recommendations to address and improve social issues related to public records.