Korea locked in war over history textbook

Protesters hold banners denouncing Kyohak Publishing Co.'s controversial history textbook during a rally in Seoul, Sept. 12. They called for the retraction of the authorization of the textbook for what they claim is a biased and flawed portrayal of modern Korean history. / Yonhap

Conflicts escalate over ‘biased and flawed' contents

By Nam Hyun-woo

Koreans are heatedly debating the contents of a history textbook written by right-wing scholars which liberals say is "ideologically-biased and flawed".

The textbook's publisher, Kyohak Publishing Co., and the education minister expressed opinions against the book's printing, but the controversy shows little sign of abating any time soon with political parties and civil organizations divided sharply over the issue.

The so-called war over history surfaced after the Ministry of Education last month decided to make Korean history a mandatory subject in the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) from 2017.

If this decision is put into action as scheduled, high school students will have to learn aspects of history that have long been neglected.

"A fair textbook verification became very important with the ministry's decision. Making the history test a vehicle to teach students that there can be various perspectives on historical events is homework for us," said an official at the National Institute of Korean History (NIKH), which approves the country's history textbooks.

On the heels of the ministry's decision, the NIKH on Aug. 30 approved eight new history textbooks, including Kyohak's book, for use in high schools in the new semester starting next March.

As soon as the NIKH announced the results of the choice, liberal media outlets, civil organizations and teachers at schools lashed out at the textbook in question.

Kyohak Publishing Co.'s controversial history textbook is seen on top of five history textbooks out of eight approved by the National Institute of Korean History last month. / Korea Times file

Why "biased?"

The reason for their uproar is that the textbook is allegedly written to support military regimes that lasted from the 1960s to the 1980s and to justify iron-fisted rule imposed in the name of industrial development.

What they claim is the textbook should equally underscore the sacrifice of civil liberties in the course of the country's painful journey to democracy.

They pointed out the book's descriptions on former autocratic Presidents Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan were nothing more than a sheer lauding at them.

In a page describing Rhee, the first president of Korea, the textbook reads: "Syngman Rhee was the most admired and entrusted leader of Koreans. He delivered the message of Korea's independence through a radio speech and became an intimate hero to the public."

The critics claim that the textbook misinterpreted Rhee's rigging of March 15, 1960, presidential election to prolong his rule. It explained the rigging was to put Rhee's confidant, Lee Gi-bung, into power, omitting Rhee's attempt to continue his dictatorship.

Regarding former President Park's Saemaul Movement, a nationwide postwar rural development campaign promoted during the 1970s, the book only presents positive outcomes without mentioning that the movement that was exploited to justify the president's dictatorship.

Some argue that such an interpretation of Park's legacy favors his daughter and current President Park Geun-hye.

To support their argument, the detractors pointed out that the textbook contains nearly 300 factual flaws.

On Sept. 10, a group of researchers from the Institute of Korean Historical Studies and other history scholars' groups said that they found 298 errors in the textbook and most of them were related to its modern history chapters explaining Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, especially during the 1937-45 period.

Dealing a heavier blow to Kyohak and the book's authors, another allegation surfaced that the authors "copied" Wikipedia's explanation on Kim Sung-soo, founder of the conservative Dong-A Ilbo newspaper.

What's more embarrassing is that the book's explanation is identical to that of Wikipedia, even including the same mistakes exhibited on the online encyclopedia.

Also, its pro-Japanese interpretation of historical events has sparked strong criticism. A poet-turned-lawmaker Do Jong-hwan of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) described the textbook as "more pro-Japanese than Japanese textbooks."

Amid the string of criticism, the NIKH, the screening committee, and Kyohak Publishing, which have printed middle and high school textbooks for more than 50 years, suffered serious damage to their reputations and credibility.

As the criticism mounts, Education Minister Seo Nam-soo officially said the ministry ordered authors of the eight history books, including Kyohak's, to rewrite their texts last week.

Against this backdrop, Kyohak said it might not publish the controversial textbook, saying they were even "threatened by some protesters." The publisher excluded the history textbook from its catalogue of the 2014 textbook lineup.

However, watchers expect abandoning the textbook's publishing would not be an easy choice. In contrast with Kyohak's stance, the authors insist that the book should be published.

According to the company, a publishing contract with the authors cannot be nullified unilaterally. As the authors refuse to rewrite or complement the controversial book, the company could face a legal dispute with them, if it gives up publishing.

Meanwhile, the authors of seven other new textbooks, held a press conference and said they also cannot abide by the minister's order.

They said they are not in favor of Kyohak's book. They made it clear that they will not rewrite their books because their books should not be treated the same as Kyohak's "error-riddled" book.

Less academic, but more political

Political parties and ideologists are ardently voicing their opinions on the issue.

With the move to include history in the CSAT, experts showed concern that it would ignite ideological conflicts between conservatives and liberals.

The DP has been critical of the textbook from the beginning. The main opposition party said in a statement, "Since President Park Geun-hye took office, anti-democratic groups have been stepping up their efforts to distort Korean history. The debate over the history issue may inevitably ignite further ideological conflicts."

The NIKH has also become the target of criticism. Some progressive historians denounced the NIHK's for lacking transparency in the screening process.

A historian, who asked not to be named, said, "Professors could not put forward their opinions as they were unable to have access to the controversial textbook except for media reports. Such a closed process probably hindered them from making fair judgment on textbooks."

Meanwhile, the ruling Saenuri Party defends the controversial textbook. Rep. Kim Moo-sung of the party launched a parliamentary gathering called "Modern history classroom" on Sept. 4.

Many political pundits noted that such a gathering was unusual as history has been always a sensitive issue for President Park who has to deal with her father's autocratic image.

At their first meeting, Kim said, "There have been criticisms of the textbook, but the issue has offered a chance to correct mistakes before students will use it," adding that he declared a "history war against leftists."

In the second session of the gathering on Sept. 11, Prof. Lee Myeong-hee at Kongju National University and one of the authors of Kyohak's book gave a lecture in front of conservative lawmakers.

At the session, Saenuri Party lawmakers reportedly just listened to Lee who said, "Over 70 percent of Korea's culture scenes were dominated by left-wingers.

He also criticized former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun for allegedly denying the legitimacy of the founding of the Republic of Korea under Syngman Rhee in 1948.

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