Abstract

Public-sector subsidiaries—legally independent yet quasi-public—face governance gaps due to exclusions in current legislations. Records management serves as a critical mechanism for achieving publicness and accountability. The methodology encompasses a literature review in public administration and archival studies, a comparative legal analysis of domestic and international regimes, and an assessment of tensions between legal independence and public duties. The following measures are proposed: (1) extending the applicability of the Public Records Management Act to subsidiaries; (2) establishing a linked parent–subsidiary records management system; (3) linking subsidiary records management to management evaluation and public disclosure; and (4) strengthening oversight led by the National Archives of Korea. These measures reframe subsidiaries as institutional actors capable of substantively achieving publicness and accountability, rather than peripheral units.