The government is backtracking on its plan to build separate archives for President Moon Jae-in due to controversy stemming from what it says is a lack of public discussion over the proposal.

The National Archives of Korea, under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said on Wednesday that the proposed archives were part of efforts to streamline the current presidential record management system and was intended to document presidential discourse more thoroughly. 

Attributing “unnecessary misunderstanding and controversy” over the plan to its failure to draw sufficient public discussion on the issue, the agency said it has decided to reconsider the standalone archive proposal.

It also noted that Moon himself made clear that he does not want a separate archive for his presidency.

The previous day, the agency announced it would build individual presidential archives beginning with President Moon. Currently, the all-in-one presidential archives in Sejong city are at about 84 percent capacity.

However, the opposition bloc has criticized the plan, saying it will only benefit Moon at the cost of taxpayers’ money.