Certified e-Document Center

The Certified e-Document Center (공인전자문서센터/公認電子文書中心) is a certified depository of electronic documents subject to relevant provisions of the Framework Act on e-Documents and e-Commerce (전자문서 및 전자거래 기본법), which was newly amended and comes into force on September 2, 2012.

With the amendment of the Act, the Certified e-Document Authority is no more called "공인전자문서보관소" but "공인전자문서센터" shifting an emphasis from the storage to circulation of e-documents, and thus expanding the scope of business. Another important impetus is the '#mail' system (공인전자주소), which is designated and regularly supervised by the National IT Industry Promotional Agency (NIPA, 정보통신산업진흥원). The delivery and access via the #mail system is legally admissible to the court. On the other hand, the authentication of e-documents was not yet codified in the new Act.

Key words
electronic document (e-document), certified, authenticated, paper-based, storage and circulation

Background
One of the methods to clarify and prove a certain legal action is documentation. Conventionally, the paper-based document has conducted the functions to transmit information and serve as evidence. These functions can be secured with ease due to the specific nature of the medium - paper. However, in order for paper documents to play these functions, it is necessary to preserve it for a long time at a certain place. The more the documents accumulate, the more preservation costs increase. Moreover, there are such risks as theft, fire, flood, and so on as a result of long preservation. The main reason that document is preserved is because it may be admitted as evidence when there is a dispute related to the document. In view of the nature of e-document, it is easily changed or modified compared to paper document. Thus, any probable modification of the e-document during preservation makes a problem, and it is difficult to ensure the admissibility before the court.

Certified e-Documents centers
Against this backdrop, the Korean government established the Certified e-Document Authority system in 2005 that endows public confidence to the e-document. Accordingly several certified e-documents centers have been designated in due course.

KT NET (한국무역정보통신/DOCUON) has begun its operation since 2007. There are six more certified e-document authorities: uPostBank, KICA (한국정보인증), DocuBank (LG CNS), DuZonBizOn, HanaINS, DocuStar (KosCom). The Certified e-Documents Center is comparable to an official certification agency, and it is the trusted third party designated by the government, and it is responsible for the certification of the e-documents and for the safe preservation of e-documents for the first time in the world.

Statutory ground
The Framework Act on e-Documents and e-Commerce provides that, when an e-document is preserved at an official e-document storage site, preservation of the e-document is deemed executed according to the provisions of this Act, and the content of the e-document preserved in such a manner is presumed to be unmodified during the preservation period. In 2008, three companies equipped with official e-document storage sites started full fledged operations by obtaining the approval of the then Ministry of Knowledge Economy. Despite the revamping efforts of the official e-document storage sites, additional investment by businesses and expected benefit, preservation site operations were faced with several problems in terms of operation as well as structural issues.

Legal issues
To promote the official e-document storage sites, the legal issues with regard to the e-documents and official e-document storage sites have to be identified and examined.

First, notwithstanding the fact the previous Framework Act on Electronic Commerce stipulated that the e-document was as valid as the paper-based document except as otherwise provided by other specific law, plenty of laws regulating the making and preservation of documents do not have provisions regarding the legal effect of the e-document. As a result, there are questions concerning its validity, and the use of e-document is usually averted. To solve this problem, it is necessary to take measures to legislate for the comprehensive revision of the relevant laws to encourage the use of e-documents.

Second, a powerful legal effect is granted to the e-document preservation service provided by the official e-document storage sites. It was because the government designates the official e-document storage site as the institution that performs official function through the administrative certification process. Thus, the issue of government's designation of official e-document storage site was that in line with the official function of the certified e-document center. As the Certified e-Document Authority system is at its initial stage when many businesses are induced to participate in the business, the designation process was in fact centered on the compliance. Thus, we had better consider the restriction on the new entry at the policy level in order to prevent indiscriminate entry into the official e-document authority business. To this end, it is advisable to make the standard of designation more stiff and difficult, or to implement preliminary designation system similar to the preliminary certification system.

Third, as regards the independent status of the Certified e-Document Center, there are only few provisions in the newly amended Framework Act on e-Document and e-Commerce. It also calls for the guarantee of the independence of official e-document storage sites from their users. However, clarifying this condition of independence is required first before the government performs its purported function and consolidates legal trustworthiness while it designates official e-document authorities.

Fourth, at present in Korea, the e-notarization system is not yet implemented. Instead the Notary Act which allegedly includes the e-notarization system is likely to be legislated. For example, the United States and Japan have already realized the e-notarization system. When the e-notarization legislation was at issue in Japan whether the e-notarization system is necessary or not, the following merits were strongly recommended:
 * The generator of information can be identified;
 * The content of information is preserved despite loss or change;
 * Any possible dispute can be avoided by proving the existence of information;
 * A systemic infrastructure is required to handle the situation effectively; and so on.

Certified e-Document Authority system
When examining the role to be performed by the e-notarization system, we can find many parts overlap with those of the Certified e-Document Authority system. However, the purpose and the objectives of the Certified e-Document Authority and e-notarization system are quite different. The Certified e-Document Center facilitates safe preservation of e-document while verifying that the e-document has been distributed safely and that the content of the e-document has not been modified or falsified. On the other hand, the main goal of the e-notarization system is to enable the existing notarization system by adopting information technology.

However, to execute the e-notarization job effectively, and to secure the technology necessary for the e-document certification and to ensure safe preservation of the e-documents and certified information, it calls for technical infrastructure just as much as the official e-document authorities. So far, few things have been decided at this point. In order to ensure the safety of e-notarization system and to vitalize the use of official e-document authorities, it is advisable to share the technical infrastructure of the official e-document authorities in accordance with the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice.