Korea, China, Japan to publish joint history book

By Bae Ji-sook

A group of historians and civic activists from South Korea, China and Japan will jointly publish a history book for adults about East Asia next year.

The textbook will be co-written by Prof. Shin Ju-back of Yonsei University, Prof. Obinanta Sumio at Waseda University and Buping of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as well as civic activists from the three countries. It will target reader demographics with an academic level of high school graduate or higher. It will be published in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and English.

The textbook will cover the changing international atmosphere of East Asia as well as various transactions within the region regarding constitution, urbanization, railways, families and sex, education, mass media, war and civilians and so on.

The process was more challenging than it may appear. During a total of 12 meetings, the authors differed on various issues.

For example, while the Koreans and Japanese regarded the Korean War (1950-1953) to be initiated by North Korea’s invasion of South Korean territory, the Chinese authors wanted a softer choice of words. “All disputes will be mentioned in the book so students can come up with their own ideas,” a civic activist said.

The history guidebook follows a sub-textbook for middle school students released in 2005 against a Japanese rightists group’s publication of a history book “distorting” facts and the meanings of major historical events in the region for its students in 2000. While the Japanese book was authorized by its government to be taught in school classrooms, the jointly published textbook was read as substitute material for students of the three countries.

“The book published by the Fusosha was full of false information, risking ties among Korea, Japan and China. In our alternative textbook, we tried to deliver the facts, but, without provoking anger or other sentiments toward Japan or its nationals,” the group said in a previous statement.