By Jhoo Dong-chan
The Ministry of Education has raised questions over the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s (SMOE) campaign to distribute a directory of alleged pro-Japanese collaborators to some 500 middle and high schools in Seoul, claiming that it “may violate the schools’ rights of choosing educational material.”
The ministry said Friday that it asked the SMOE to submit a report on whether it went through the proper consultation process with each school before distributing the directories, Feb. 29. Seoul Digitech High School has refused to use the material.
Under the School Libraries Promotion Act, books and documents should go through a week-long proclamation period after a review by each school’s library committee before buying them.
Citing neutrality in education, the ministry also accused the SMOE of wasting its budget by allocating money for writing and distributing the list to schools in Seoul.
“Subsidizing and pressing schools to buy such a controversial list may violate each school’s right to choose educational material,” an official said. “It would also profit certain political groups.”
Earlier this month, the SMOE decided to distribute the directory of pro-Japanese collaborators during the Japanese colonial era (1910-45) to 583 middle and high schools in Seoul and allocated 300,000 won ($250) to the budget of each school toward purchasing the directory.
The directory includes a list of 4,389 pro-Japanese figures that allegedly praised Japanese imperialism on the Korean Peninsula or committed anti-national activities against their own people.
Due to its political inclination, however, a number of conservative groups questioned the list’s authenticity.
Opposing the SMOE‘s move to distribute the list, a conservative parents’ group filed a petition with the Seoul Administrative Court, Thursday.
“Such a list won’t be helpful in settling past affairs but only cause political confusion and split public opinion,” the group leader said.