Published : Jan. 31, 2017 - 12:01
The government on Tuesday unveiled the final version of a set of state-authored history textbooks amid an ongoing dispute over their interpretation of key political events.
The new textbooks for middle and high school students were disclosed during a press conference at the Ministry of Education in Sejong, 121 kilometers south of Seoul, following more than a year of wrangling between the conservative and liberal camps.
The controversy began after the conservative administration of President Park Geun-hye announced plans in October 2015 to issue state-authored history textbooks to replace existing textbooks it viewed as biased, left-leaning and lenient toward North Korea.
Deputy Education Minister Lee Young announces the the release of the final draft of the controversial state-authored history textbook at the education ministry office building in Sejong City (Yonhap)
Liberals bashed the plan as an attempt to glorify the military dictatorship of Park's father, Park Chung-hee, who ruled the country for 18 years until his assassination in 1979.
After intense public debate, the new textbooks were written with expanded coverage of pro-Japanese forces during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula and descriptions of the Japanese military's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II. It also acknowledged that the Saemaeul Movement was a "state-led" reform project initiated by the late Park to overcome poverty after the 1950-53 Korean War.
One of the disputes centered on the description of the date Aug. 15, 1948. While the government designated it as the foundation day of the Republic of Korea, liberals argued it should be known as the foundation day of the government of the Republic of Korea as the country was already in existence in the form of a government-in-exile.
The new textbook kept the description used by the government.
However, in announcing the guidelines for state-authorized textbooks -- a separate set of textbooks that are currently in the making -- the ministry said it will allow the use of both expressions.
"In the opinion-gathering process, we received the most input on the date of the foundation of the Republic of Korea," Vice Education Minister Lee Young said during the press conference. "We revised the guidelines to reflect this."
The state-authored textbooks are to formally go into use next year following a trial period at school that volunteered to adopt them. The state-authorized textbooks will also be issued next year, after which schools will be given the freedom to choose the version they prefer.
Critics accused the government of suddenly changing its stance on the date controversy to appease liberals and keeping more or less the same amount of coverage of Park Chung-hee in the state-authored books.
"The education ministry should not create confusion in education and at schools," said Lee Jae-joung, education superintendent of Gyeonggi Province. "State-authored history textbooks should be scrapped immediately according to the people's wish."
The "Park Geun-hye textbook" is unconstitutional, undemocratic and anti-educational, and the National Assembly should swiftly pass a bill aimed at banning the books, he argued.
The bill passed through the parliamentary education, culture and sports committee earlier this month amid a boycott by the ruling party. Opposition parties have vowed to pass it through a plenary session before the start of the academic year in March.
"I don't understand the reason for pushing ahead with a policy that will be scrapped in two months," Rep. Woo Sang-ho, floor leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, said during a party meeting, referring to the possibility the president will be removed from office. Park was impeached by parliament last month over an influence-peddling scandal and currently awaits a decision by the Constitutional Court on whether to oust or reinstate her.
"I plead with the education minister to please stop," Woo said. "Please let the incoming president decide, and complete your term in peace." (Yonhap)