Historian dispels inaccuracies

Cover of “Our History that We Have Never Learned from Textbooks” by Shim Baek-kang

Books based on Japanese data reflect colonialism, distort Korean history

By Lee Min-hyung

Historian Shim Baek-kang

It is no exaggeration to say that Korea’s history education favors Japanese colonialism, which has destroyed Koreans’ spirits, according to a historian.

In his new book, “Our History that We Have Never Learned from Textbooks,” Shim Baek-kang, 58, tries to set the record straight about ancient Korean history by presenting a significant amount of evidence collected over more than a decade.

As part of its colonization, Japan tried to show that Koreans were inferior, Shim said on Tuesday at an event celebrating publication of the book. Shim is president of the Korea National Culture Research Center in Seoul.

“There is nothing more serious than destroying the spirits of Koreans by letting them study their history using textbooks with inaccurate facts,” he said. “I wrote this book to provide readers with correct historical facts.”

He argued that ancient Korea, called Gojoseon (2333 BC-108 BC), stretched into China’s Yoseo region, but most Korean history textbooks say Gojoseon was near the Taedong River in North Korea, a much narrower region.

“The best feature of this book is that all the information is based on historical sources written by ancient people from different countries, not Koreans, which makes the sources credible,” Shim said.

“The older the sources are, the greater their value. Most of the sources used in the book are about 1,000 to 1,500 years old, so they are more reliable than any other sources.”

The distorted history goes on about how after Gojoseon fell, three powers rose on the Korean Peninsula. The period of the three states, Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla - better known as the Three-Kingdom Era (57 BC-668) - has also been distorted by Japan’s colonization, according to the historian.

“Korean history textbooks teach that the capital of Goguryeo was located only near the Taedong River,” he said. “But it actually extended near China’s Yoseo region before it was invaded by the Tang Dynasty.”

He said he found supporting evidence from the “Siku Quanshu” (Complete Library in Four Sections), the largest collection of books on Chinese history.

Shim said Koreans should be more interested in their history.

“History is not just my story, but also our grandparents’ story,” he said. “I hope that everyone pays more attention to our own history. I believe this book will make more people realize the importance of learning Korean history.”

To warn people about the shocking consequences of incorrect history education, he quoted a late Japanese governor: “Japan instilled colonial education into the minds of Koreans, which is scarier than guns and cannons. It will take about 100 years for Korea to get back on its feet.”

“It is really regrettable that the effects of Japanese colonialism in our accounts of our history have not been acknowledged until now, and the public should be enraged by this,” Shim said.

He also stressed the need to revise the incorrect historical accounts and facts in current textbooks.

“Even though scholars stimulate the public with new theories or academic books, textbook-based education should come first,” he said. “If we fail to prioritize textbook-based education, it will be hard to ensure historical independence in the minds of Koreans.”