Minister hints at return to state history textbooks

By Jung Min-ho

Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea hinted Thursday that he might bring back state-authored history textbooks to classrooms.

Speaking to a forum organized by the Korea Broadcasting Journalists Club, Hwang said it was the government’s responsibility to teach students history in a uniform and consistent way.

His remarks are seen as a move to prevent any conflicting descriptions, especially about modern Korean history, amid ideological divisions in the nation.

“History cannot be taught in different ways,” he said. “We should avoid disputes arising from conflicting views about history while teaching the subject to students.”

“How to make it happen will take some tough decisions. But I will get back to you with more details once the ministry determines its position.”

State-authored history textbooks were introduced in 1974 under the dictatorship of the late President Park Chung-hee, the father of the current President Park Geun-hye. They were used for three decades until the early 2000s.

The country has since converted to a state-approval system ― with history textbooks published by private companies and evaluated by the National Institute of Korean History (NIKH) -- to promote diversity in descriptions and interpretations.

Hwang’s comments are likely to trigger a controversy as they could imply that the government is trying to restore its power to control the content of history textbooks.

His remarks, in fact, met with oppositions from liberal politicians immediately.

“We are deeply concerned that the government is trying to cause regression in teaching history,” New Politics Alliance for Democracy spokesman Kim Sung-soo said. “In an era of diversity, the idea of having state-authored history textbooks is just obsolete.”

Yet it appears that conservative politicians will continue to push the agenda forward just as Hwang’s predecessor Seo Nam-soo did during his term.

Globally, there are only few countries that use back the state-authored history textbooks, including North Korea, Russia and Vietnam.