hankyoreh

” to the objections of teachers and civic groups who say that the decision to boycott the book follows the politics of the current administration.

Rank-and-file teachers and civic organizations focused on history education have strongly protested a de facto boycott by 16 superintendents against the use of a history textbook, saying that superintendents are following the government and trying to force students to learn only the history they want to teach. The protests came after the superintendents in 16 cities and provinces nationwide publicly declared on September 8 that they will not adopt an “ideologically-biased” textbook. In particular, teachers have expressed concerns that the superintendents could seriously undermine the voluntary adoption of textbooks because they have a greater influence over classrooms than does the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

The textbook in question, “A Modern and Contemporary History of Korea,” published by Kumsung Publishing, has been under assault from conservatives for what they say is “anti-U.S., pro-North Korea and left-leaning” content.

Some of the superintendents have already begun to boycott the Kumsung textbook for being “biased” by ordering principals to reconsider their choice of the book for use in this year’s school curriculum. A teacher at an all girls’ high school in Daegu, who is only identified by the surname Ahn, said that the school’s assistant principal had reviewed the Kumsung history textbook and called a meeting with the school’s history teachers, at which he instructed them to reconsider the Kumsung textbook, which has already been adopted by the school, and asked them to review five other history textbooks. Ahn said that teachers have been under pressure to teach a biased version of history that follows a right-wing perspective.

The Textbook Forum, a conservative right-wing organization, argues that the textbook appears to describe the U.S. military as an army of occupation and the Soviet military as an army of liberation. The organization offers as evidence two decrees made after Korea was liberated from Japan in 1945, one by the U.S. Army commander Douglas MacArthur and the other by the Soviet commander Ivan Chistiakov. Both are presented in the textbook, which notes that at the time, U.S. and Soviet forces were stationed in what are now South and North Korea, respectively, functioning as a de facto government in each area. The Korean-language decree by MacArthur reads: “I have been in charge of Joseon soil and its people below 38 degrees latitude.” The Korean-language decree by Chistiakov reads: “People of Joseon! Remember! Happiness is in your hands. You are regaining liberty and independence. Everything is now up to you.”

In response, the textbook editors said that they had just included two of the most important historic decrees to show basic information about the U.S. and Soviet military, both of which were stationed in South and North Korea at the time.

The Textbook Forum also points out that the textbook has a negative take on the development of the Korean economy, citing a section in the textbook that says although it achieved economic growth and became known as the miracle on the Han River, the Korean economy was subordinate to Japan and the United States.

However, the textbook editors say they simply highlighted the facts of Korea’s economic growth and its negative effects.

The conservative organization also takes issue with the way the textbook describes the Chollima (“very fast horse”) Movement, a state-sponsored movement in North Korea in the late 1950s, as an engine for the construction of a socialist economy, while spotlighting the political aspects of the Saemaeul Movement, a government-led movement begun in 1970 in South Korea .

Responding to the criticism, the editors say the book also says the Chollima Movement was also used as a mechanism for mobilizing laborers under the socialist regime.

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, the National Institute of Korean History and private history research groups publicly stated in 2004 that there were no problems with Kumsung Publishing’s “A Modern and Contemporary History of Korea,” meaning that historians and government agencies had already approved the textbook at the time the statement was made.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]