Secondary school history textbooks, which will be used in schools starting next year, will emphasize the l..

History textbooks for high schools and colleges to be used in schools starting next year will emphasize the legitimacy of the South Korean government and firmly specify North Korea’s provocations. According to the announcement of the Ministry of Education on the 30th on the “Decision to Accept the 2024 Textbook Examination”, ▲ Dong-A Publishing ▲ Emergency Education ▲ Jihaksa ▲ Liber School ▲ Haemae-du ▲ Korea Institute of Academic Evaluation ▲ Genius Textbook ▲ CIMAS ▲ Future En, etc. passed the examination of Korean history Ⅰ and Ⅱ for high schools by the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation.

All nine Korean high school history textbooks have adopted the term “liberal democracy” instead of “democracy.” In accordance with the Yoon Suk Yeol government’s 2022 curriculum amendment, the Yoon government decided to specify the phrase “liberal democracy” to firmly specify the legitimacy of the establishment of the South Korean government as opposed to the North Korean regime. In late 2022, the Ministry of Education added “liberal democracy” to the performance standard of the “Korea Development” unit of Korean high school history, stating that it “explores the process of establishing the Korean government based on liberal democracy.”

The description of “democracy” has been used differently in school textbooks depending on the regime. The 2007 revised curriculum drafted by the Roh Moo Hyun administration used only “democracy,” and the 2011 and 2015 revised curriculum drafted by the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations used only “liberal democracy.” The Yoon Suk Yeol administration decided to use “liberal democracy” when describing the values ​​the state pursues in relation to the establishment of the Korean government and “democracy” in the democratization movement against the dictatorship. At the time, Deputy Minister of Education Jang Sang-yoon explained, “Since ‘democracy’ and ‘liberal democracy’ are not opposite concepts, the correct term was described based on the context of the curriculum.”

In textbooks that passed the examination, the phrase “establishment of the government of the Republic of Korea” was used instead of “establishment of the Republic of Korea.” As for North Korea, the Democratic Republic of Korea was described as the establishment of a “regime” instead of a “state,” and the Republic of Korea was used as the only legitimate government on the Korean Peninsula to ensure legitimacy. It also emphasized North Korea’s provocations. North Korea clearly wrote that it is the main agent of North Korea’s provocations, such as the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and the Cheonan Incident.

In the high school textbooks of the Korea Institute of Education and Assessment, former President Rhee Syng-man was the first person to exert influence after the liberation. Unlike other textbooks that described Rhee Syng-man’s government as a “dictatorship,” it also spoke of a “long-term government.”

In the case of History for Middle School I and II, a total of seven publishers passed the examination of the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation, including: ▲ Jihaksa ▲ Future ▲ Liber School ▲ Emergency Education ▲ Hae-Edu ▲ Genius Textbook ▲ Dong-A Publishing.

Every time a new history textbook is written due to a change in the curriculum, sharp disputes are repeated in conservative and progressive academies over the method and expression of the description, and this time there will be a divide between textbooks relating to former President Rhee Syng-man and the Korean War. During the Park Geun Hye administration, attempts to nationalize history textbooks were controversial, and leftist labels were often attached to textbooks that were abolished by the Moon Jae In administration and changed to an examination system.

In the case of textbooks from the Korea Educational Testing Service, which passed the test for the first time this time, it is judged that the conservative color is strong. The textbook excluded direct expressions of sexual exploitation or human rights violations such as sexual slavery and expressed the Japanese military Japanese military sexual slavery in a way that “dragged young women and led them to a terrible life”, and asked a question about how to judge poet Seo Jeong-ju, who was judged as a pro-Japanese group, with a topic exploration titled “A View of Pro-Japanese Intellectuals.” The left wing, including the opposition party, protests against this. Hwang Jung-ah, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Korea, said in a commentary: “The President of the Republic of Korea has denied the spirit of the independence movement by illegally invading Japanese sovereignty and national rule in Gyeongsul, which should recall our painful history, and today even future generations are trying to bury the New Right,” and warned: “The Democratic Party will find the merchants who are selling out the Republic of Korea and hold them accountable.”

Next year, the new curriculum will be applied to third through fourth graders of elementary school, first year of junior high school, and first year of high school, and the textbook will be changed. The new textbook will be displayed in frontline schools for field evaluation starting on the 2nd of next month, and will be used in schools starting from the 2025 school year. However, the Minister of Education may instruct the publisher to make corrections if necessary, and the Ministry of Education may set a new ordering period if there are special circumstances including corrections.