hankyoreh

at Insadong in Seoul’s Jongno district

Civic groups in Japan who have been carrying out a campaign against historical distortions in Japanese textbooks are protesting the South Korean government‘s decision to take over the production of Korean history textbooks out of concern that this could prompt the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to accelerate its own efforts to tamper with textbooks. It is very unusual for Japanese civic society to issue a statement on the textbook policy of the government of South Korea, rather than Japan.

24 Japanese civic groups who work with textbooks and history - including one called Let’s Not Hand Our Children Dangerous Textbooks, Osaka Group - issued a statement on Oct. 16 in which they expressed their “firm opposition” to the South Korean government’s announcement that it would begin issuing Korean history textbooks for middle school and high schools beginning in 2017. The groups said the move would “trample on the democratization of textbooks achieved by the Korean public and on the efforts toward historical reconciliation in East Asia” and voiced “concerns that it could give the Abe administration an excuse to nationalize Japanese textbooks.” Based on grassroots support in several parts of Japan, these groups have carried out their textbook campaign for some time and have considerable expertise in a number of relevant areas.

Japanese civic groups cited the country’s unfortunate militaristic past as the main reason for opposing the state-issued textbooks.

“State-issued textbooks provide a way for the government to impose its own historical perspective on the public. The Japanese government produced textbooks for 42 years - from 1903, right before the Russo-Japanese War, until 1945, when it was defeated in World War II - and as a result, many Japanese believed that wars of aggression were holy wars and slaughtered the people of Asia,” the groups said.

Under the control of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (SCAP), Japan shifted from state-issued textbooks to state-approved textbooks in 1948 and has maintained that system to the present day.

“The South Korean public also suffered under past dictatorial governments, but through the persistent efforts of many of the citizens, democratization was achieved. The South Korean government‘s decision to issue its own history textbooks is a completely anachronistic attempt to turn back the clock on history,” these groups said.

Other reasons that these groups offered for opposing the South Korean government’s bid to control production of textbooks are that it would weaken relations with other countries by fostering a state-centered view of history and that it would run afoul of standards espoused by the UN and other international bodies.

The Japanese groups are particularly concerned that the South Korean government‘s decision could be a major setback for Japanese groups involved with the textbook campaign, which are fighting a grueling war with the Abe administration.

The Abe administration has changed the standards for textbook assessment and the selection system to increase the state’s say in the process of composing and selecting textbooks and has spared no pains to facilitate the selection of more textbooks containing historical distortions, including textbooks by Ikuhosha Publishing, which attempt to justify Japan’s wars of aggression.

“In 2001, when the Group for Making a New Textbook released a textbook with the help of the Nippon Kaigi, Japan’s largest far-right organization, and members of Abe’s party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the South Korean government and civic groups objected strongly. At the time, Japan’s far-right retorted that South Korea, which had state-issued textbooks, has no right to criticize Japan, which had state-approved textbooks. For South Korea to once again implement state-issued textbooks despite this will breathe new life into the [Japanese right wing] and risks providing Abe with an excuse for pushing for the state to take over textbook production,” these groups said.

“South Koreans will not relinquish the success of democratization that they achieved through great sacrifice. The South Korean government must accept the demands of the people of Japan and South Korea and scrap its plans for state-issued textbooks,” they added.

“We released the statement to share our belief that the people of South Korea, who so persistently fought for democratization, will prevent this government‘s tyranny. The number of organizations that endorse our statement continues to increase,” said Fumiyo Oka, secretary general of the Osaka Group.

By Gil Yun-hyung, Tokyo correspondent

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