Ms. Park Geun-Hye, president of South Korea, recently announced that secondary school students will be taught with state-authored history books starting in 2017, causing a huge controversy. Currently, schools are free to choose from textbooks that are closely examined and approved by the Ministry of Education. However, this legislation would institute a single, unified history textbook authored directly by the government. Through three levels of analysis, I seek to understand why Ms. Park plans to establish state-authored history textbook and why this change generates fear and concern among citizens.
First level of analysis looks at the psychology, background, and personality of individuals to understand the emergence of an action. Ms. Park …show more content…
Contemporary South Korean history has been marked by political turbulence. Current textbooks emphasize liberal events such as the April Revolution and Gwangju Democratization Movement . In comparison, they downplay the economic growth fostered by Park Chung-Hee and the legacy of Syngman Rhee, the first president of Republic of Korea. The disparity in depth of information on certain events substantiates the proponents’ argument that current textbooks are not an appropriate, full account of history. Conservatives condemn the current textbooks to have “masochistic historical views” and instilling students with “left-leaning nationalism” which emphasizes ethnic affinity with North Korea. They argue that current textbooks glamorize Kim Il-Sung, North Korea’s first dictator, as an anti-Japanese resistance fighter. Lee Kyung-Ja of the Parents’ Alliance for the Revival of Public Education says, “Our enemy teaches one idea, so why not teach our children one unified story to counter it?” (“Manual Drive” 2015) In 2015, North Korean state-sponsored teacher’s manual included chapters devoted to Kim Jong Un’s childhood, including his miraculous driving ability at 3 years old. (Shim 2015) North Korea’s textbooks include outrageous details and distorted history to idolize their leaders and justify their regime. The opponents believe that Lee’s claim to go one-for-one with North Korea in terms of education is outrageous, and fear that new far-right textbooks would lead to more distortion and
First level of analysis looks at the psychology, background, and personality of individuals to understand the emergence of an action. Ms. Park …show more content…
Contemporary South Korean history has been marked by political turbulence. Current textbooks emphasize liberal events such as the April Revolution and Gwangju Democratization Movement . In comparison, they downplay the economic growth fostered by Park Chung-Hee and the legacy of Syngman Rhee, the first president of Republic of Korea. The disparity in depth of information on certain events substantiates the proponents’ argument that current textbooks are not an appropriate, full account of history. Conservatives condemn the current textbooks to have “masochistic historical views” and instilling students with “left-leaning nationalism” which emphasizes ethnic affinity with North Korea. They argue that current textbooks glamorize Kim Il-Sung, North Korea’s first dictator, as an anti-Japanese resistance fighter. Lee Kyung-Ja of the Parents’ Alliance for the Revival of Public Education says, “Our enemy teaches one idea, so why not teach our children one unified story to counter it?” (“Manual Drive” 2015) In 2015, North Korean state-sponsored teacher’s manual included chapters devoted to Kim Jong Un’s childhood, including his miraculous driving ability at 3 years old. (Shim 2015) North Korea’s textbooks include outrageous details and distorted history to idolize their leaders and justify their regime. The opponents believe that Lee’s claim to go one-for-one with North Korea in terms of education is outrageous, and fear that new far-right textbooks would lead to more distortion and