By Kim Tong-hyung
The Park Geun-hye government is growing bolder in its attempts at controlling history, arguing that the state should retake the power to write history books used in schools.
State-authored textbooks had been used for three decades until the early 2000s, first introduced in 1974 under the regime of Park Chung-hee, the assassinated dictator and father of the current president. The country has since converted to a state-approval system, with history books published by private companies and evaluated by the National Institute of Korean History (NIKH), to encourage more diversity in narratives.
The argument in support of the government imposing one, authoritative interpretation of historical events has been backed by conservative historians close to the power elite.
These scholars found themselves at the center of controversy for their involvement in a high-school history book by Kyohak Publishing, which conveys defensive arguments about the military governments of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.
And the recent appointment of Lew Young-ick as the new head of the NIKH strengthens the anticipation that the lean toward the right could become the ideological stance in all school books. The 77-year-old Handong University scholar has been a staunch supporter of Syngman Rhee, Korea's autocratic first president, comparing him to iconic historical figures like Kemal Ataturk and (the mythological) Moses.
In a parliamentary hearing Tuesday, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won claimed that the country should consider switching to state-written textbooks again to ensure ''proper'' history education. Lawmaker Kim Moo-sung of the governing Saenuri Party expressed support for Chung's views, Wednesday, saying that students should exposed to ''balanced'' historical views.
''There is diversity in historical perspectives. To assure that students are taught with the proper theories, it could be said that the country needs unified history books,'' Chung said.
''There have been arguments about the country going back to state-authored textbooks again and this is an issue that should be publically debated and considered.''
Mainstream historians express alarm, saying that a return to state-written textbooks would mark a significant regression in the quality of education and intellectual freedom.
They see Chung's comments as the government trying to stir public opinion in favor of such textbooks and attempting to dumb down the debate over ideological conflicts. In a country where many people still cringe at the sight and sound of socialism, this wouldn't bode well for diversity in discourse.
''Let's think about the list of countries where the government writes school history books. They are a small number of Communist countries highlighted by none other than North Korea, which attempt to dictate a single line of thought and values to its people,'' said Lee Shin-chul, a Sungkyunkwan University historian.
''It's absurd that we are even talking about going back to the Park Chung-hee days in terms of history education. If the current evaluation process of history books has any flaws, let's talk openly about them and work together to find a better solution. Using the problems as an excuse to argue that the government should control the entire process is dangerous.''
The Park Geun-hye government is growing bolder in its attempts at controlling history, arguing that the state should retake the power to write history books used in schools.
State-authored textbooks had been used for three decades until the early 2000s, first introduced in 1974 under the regime of Park Chung-hee, the assassinated dictator and father of the current president. The country has since converted to a state-approval system, with history books published by private companies and evaluated by the National Institute of Korean History (NIKH), to encourage more diversity in narratives.
The argument in support of the government imposing one, authoritative interpretation of historical events has been backed by conservative historians close to the power elite.
These scholars found themselves at the center of controversy for their involvement in a high-school history book by Kyohak Publishing, which conveys defensive arguments about the military governments of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.
And the recent appointment of Lew Young-ick as the new head of the NIKH strengthens the anticipation that the lean toward the right could become the ideological stance in all school books. The 77-year-old Handong University scholar has been a staunch supporter of Syngman Rhee, Korea's autocratic first president, comparing him to iconic historical figures like Kemal Ataturk and (the mythological) Moses.
In a parliamentary hearing Tuesday, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won claimed that the country should consider switching to state-written textbooks again to ensure ''proper'' history education. Lawmaker Kim Moo-sung of the governing Saenuri Party expressed support for Chung's views, Wednesday, saying that students should exposed to ''balanced'' historical views.
''There is diversity in historical perspectives. To assure that students are taught with the proper theories, it could be said that the country needs unified history books,'' Chung said.
''There have been arguments about the country going back to state-authored textbooks again and this is an issue that should be publically debated and considered.''
Mainstream historians express alarm, saying that a return to state-written textbooks would mark a significant regression in the quality of education and intellectual freedom.
They see Chung's comments as the government trying to stir public opinion in favor of such textbooks and attempting to dumb down the debate over ideological conflicts. In a country where many people still cringe at the sight and sound of socialism, this wouldn't bode well for diversity in discourse.
''Let's think about the list of countries where the government writes school history books. They are a small number of Communist countries highlighted by none other than North Korea, which attempt to dictate a single line of thought and values to its people,'' said Lee Shin-chul, a Sungkyunkwan University historian.
''It's absurd that we are even talking about going back to the Park Chung-hee days in terms of history education. If the current evaluation process of history books has any flaws, let's talk openly about them and work together to find a better solution. Using the problems as an excuse to argue that the government should control the entire process is dangerous.''
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