ED Futile textbook row

The Ministry of Education has unveiled the draft versions of state-authored history textbooks one year after it announced plans to require schools to use only state-issued books.

In a press conference Monday, Education Minister Lee Jun-sik said the new textbooks will help students have a balanced view of the state, noting that they are based on historical facts and constitutional values.

But the drafts drew criticism for highlighting the achievements of former dictator Park Chung-hee, the father of the incumbent President Park Geun-hye, while neglecting descriptions of his brutal autocracy and pro-Japanese record. The list of writers for the new textbooks also included mostly right-wing scholars and teachers, prompting criticism that they are dedicated to the senior Park, prepared by his daughter.

The new state-authored history textbooks are meaningful, given that privately published textbooks have been criticized for being biased to the left. Some of the current books define the Republic of Korea as having a failed history led by pro-Japanese collaborators and those who helped prolong dictatorships. The books are also accused of being too uncritical of North Korea, with one textbook using the term “dictatorial” only twice when writing about the North, but 28 times about South Korea.

The new textbooks are not without problems. Among other things, they describe South Korea as being founded on Aug. 15 1948, three years after its liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule. This unnerved liberal scholars who believe that the country was established in Shanghai in 1919 as a provisional government.

The education ministry said it will adhere to its earlier plan to adopt the state-issued textbooks after collecting feedback from the public. But it’s doubtful if such a plan is feasible, considering the people’s strong antipathy toward President Park’s signature policies amid the unprecedented corruption and influence-peddling scandal.

But it was anachronistic from the outset for the government to try to monopolize an interpretation of history by “nationalizing” textbooks. So the education ministry needs to abolish the new textbooks sooner rather than later. To resolve the controversy over ideological biases in textbooks, it’s necessary to strengthen the verification procedure of privately published books.