By Sunny Lee
BEIJING — A new North Korean English textbook is devoid of criticism of America, according to a person who was recently in the country and reviewed the textbook, which is set to be published in 2012.
North Korea’s state media often describes the United States in various negative terms such as “imperialist,” “blood enemy,” and “disturber of world peace.”
But “the new North Korean textbook includes no hostile references to America,” said Stewart Lone, an Englishman and professor of East Asian history in Australia, who regularly visits North Korea to teach English at two elite middle schools.
Lone said he was asked to check the text for its accuracy in terms of the English language and the relevance of topics.
It’s not clear whether the absence of criticism of America in the textbook reflects a “change of heart” in Pyongyang’s attitude toward Washington, specifically its desire to mend ties with the latter. The two fought against each other during the 1950-53 Korean War.
Much remains uncertain about the future of North Korea after the untimely death of its leader Kim Jong-il a week ago. It now has a new leader, Kim Jong-un, who has inherited the crown from his father. Lone left Pyongyang one week before Kim’s death.
Since last year, he has spent seven weeks teaching English in Pyongyang’s Kumsong Middle School 1 and Kumsong College, top-notch schools where students are recruited from all over the country.
The textbook change, if carried out, is significant. North Korean students are taught to be very proud of their society and the nation’s ability “to stand up to the U.S.” in the war and ever since, is seen as genuine evidence of the country’s strength.
It is not clear whether the new textbook will be used exclusively by the select school’s students, 15 and 16 year olds.
According to Lone, the brand new textbook also takes an innocuous approach toward North Korea’s other historical nemesis: Japan. The current edition, which has been used since 2003, made occasional references to “American imperialists” or “Japanese imperialists.”
“These negative expressions do not appear in the new text,” Lone told The Korea Times in Beijing and subsequent e-mail exchanges.
A conspicuous feature of the revised new text is that it includes many more stories relating to “modern technology trends” in other countries such as computers, the Internet and mobile phones.
For example, said Lone, it includes a story titled, “Help me Pay my Gucci Bills,” about an American woman who used the Internet to appeal for $1 from anyone who wanted to help her pay off her debt.
“The textbook takes an entirely neutral position about America and asks the student to make up his own mind. The homework asks: Was the woman abusing Internet technology or was she using it in an innovative way?” Lone said.
The entire textbook encourages students to make up their own mind about moral questions. One of the lessons in the existing 2003 text is titled “Animal Rights.” It asks the student to think about whether it is good or bad for animals to be held in a zoo. Other examples include: “If you found a small amount of money, what would you do? Keep it, or give it to the teacher so that he can find its owner?”
In fact, “What do you think?” is the most common question throughout the textbooks, both the existing one and the new one, according to Lone.
With reference to Kim Jong-il, students are also taught to believe that Kim was always working for their protection and prosperity. “One of the most common phrases in their speech when constructing a story in the class was ’due to the warm love of Marshal Kim Jong-il,’” said Lone.
“It is best to think of Kim, and now his son, as a modern variation of the traditional Confucian monarch; he acts as a moral compass for society, working endlessly for their protection and benefit,” said Lone.
All of the photos and news items on Kim Jong-il were about him endlessly and tirelessly inspecting factories, farms and military installations, as well as the hugely popular new Gaeseong amusement park which he visited shortly before his death, said Lone.
Lone also learned how South Korea is seen by North Korean students. “The general view of South Korea is that the people are good but that they are always oppressed by a government which is allied to the U.S. People in North Korea cannot understand how any Koreans would work with the U.S. against the interests of other Koreans.”
Typical media reports on North Korea usually focus on its nuclear ambition or starvation or tension with South Korea. What is missing in these reports is what the lives of ordinary people there are like, including that of middle school students.
While staying in the North, Lone found boys there had something in common with their peers just as in any other countries’ in the world: they love sports, especially soccer.
“Boys are mad about soccer,” remembers Lone. “They adore Messi because he is so skillful. They also like Ronaldo but perhaps less than Messi because of his role in Portugal’s victory over North Korea. Their favorite teams are Barcelona, Real Madrid and maybe Bayern Munich. They respect skill and strength. They also know about Pele and Maradona because those names appear in lessons in their textbook.”
While students at Kumsong love soccer, they don’t necessarily want to become soccer players when they grow up. When Lone asked them about it, students said they wanted to become scientists, mathematicians, physicians and doctors (in that order of preference.) School teacher is also a popular future occupation, Lone added.
In Pyongyang, Lone found that people there also frequently use mobile phones. “Mobile phones are everywhere and constantly in use among adults and even older schoolchildren. Fourteen-year-old girls told me they have phones but don’t need them at school, so they don’t bring them. Sixteen-year-old girls can frequently be seen in the school grounds checking their phones.”
Currently, North Korea doesn’t have the World Wide Web. What it has is an “intranet” that can be used only inside the country. Lone was told that some universities allow students to have access to the Internet.
Based on his observations, Lone envisions that North Korea is likely to open itself to the Internet. “This is the logic of the new textbook. It presents the Internet as a part of everyday, modern life. It explains it in great detail,” he said.
The reason North Korea extensively teaches its students about various aspects of the Internet, Lone believes, is to have them familiarize to it first, so that when the country allows them access, they can embrace it without a shock.
“The authors of the textbook assume that students will have a good grasp of the Internet by learning about it in the textbook first. Thus, I conclude that the North Korean authorities expect pupils to be actually using the Internet in the near future,” said Lone.
sunny.lee@koreatimes.co.kr