More Conservative Take to Grip History Textbooks
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Unification's request to replace the term ``sunshine policy" with the more generic phrase ``reconciliation and cooperation policy" in high school textbooks is drawing heat from political opponents.
The ministry made the request, along with a number of other proposed revisions that could offer a more conservative take on modern Korean history, to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
But the unification ministry denied the allegation that the current conservative government is trying to undermine the legacy of past liberal administrations by replacing the term ``sunshine policy" with a generic phrase.
The Unification Ministry expressed its view that the more generic term ``reconciliation and cooperation policy" would do a better job of explaining the North Korea policy. Overall, the ministry has asked for some 58 changes and revision from six history textbooks for high school students.
Some other changes proposed by the ministry include replacing the sentence ``the perpetuation of the North Korean regime" with ``the perpetuation of the North Korean authoritarian regime".
The proposed changes have been welcomed by the governing party. GNP lawmakers said the textbook revisions would be needed to help teach objective accounts of Korea's modern history without being influenced by the political left.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) is sharply criticizing the initiative to alter history textbooks and to rename the term ``sunshine policy."
DP spokesperson Kim Yu-jong told reporters that ``this proposed change in high school textbooks would contribute to a deterioration in the South-North relationship. The change would turn back the clock on the progress we have made."