The South Korean government said Monday it will revise errors detected in the state-authored history textbooks unveiled last week, after listening to public opinion on the controversial books that have ignited fierce debate over the country's history.

The Ministry of Education said it will revise 13 factual errors found in the draft versions of the new textbooks for middle and high school students to be introduced next year, announcing the interim results of the opinion gathering which will last until late this month.

Last week, the government revealed the pilot editions of the textbooks, about a year after it officially announced the plan to revise the current textbook publication system to address what it called predominantly left-leaning content.

The government has been raising the need to forge a common understanding of history in a country where people are divided ideologically, as the two Koreas still remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce.

The textbooks are currently published by eight private publishing companies, while primary schools have a single set of national history textbooks.

Among a total of 984 opinions registered as of Friday, another 85 are currently under academic review to decide whether they will be reflected in the final version, according to the ministry.

One of the most fiercely debated issues is the description of Aug. 15, 1948 -- three years after Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule -- as the day of the "foundation of the Republic of Korea (ROK)," or South Korea, instead of the "establishment of the ROK government."

Local historians claim that the country already existed in the form of a government-in-exile, which was set up in Shanghai in 1919 to win independence from Japanese colonial rule.

The government said it will hold multiple symposiums on the issue and keep their eyes on the discussions before making a final decision. (Yonhap)