PRESENTER:
Chinoh Chu (History, Sangmyung University)
TOPIC: The Korean “History War”
DATE: Thursday, February 6, 2014
TIME: 4:00p.m.
LOCATION: Sassafras Room, Indiana Memorial Union
LOCATION: Sassafras Room, Indiana Memorial Union
In its editorial titled “Politicians and Textbooks” on
January 13th, 2014, the New
York Times wrote that the political leaders of South Korea and Japan,
President Park Keun-hye of South Korea and Prime Minister Abe Shinzo of Japan,
“are pushing to have high school history textbooks in their countries rewritten
to reflect their political views.” The South Korean government and conservative
media criticized the New York
Times loudly.
At the heart of this dispute is the controversy over a recently approved high school textbook of Korean history, which was written by those who had criticized that the history textbooks currently used in South Korea are left-leaning and pro-North Korea. The book appears to inwardly paint positive aspects of the rule of the imperial Japan, and to pass over the dictatorship and authoritarian rules of former Presidents Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee, describing them even as the guardians of liberal democracy. On the other hand, it downplays the role and status of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (1919-1948) and the significance of the Democratic Movement in Korea.
Scholars and educators have heavily criticized the textbook not only for its ideologically
charged claims and biased views, but also for thousands of factual errors and
misleading statements. Despite the controversy and its poor quality as a
secondary school textbook, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology
approved it along with seven other textbooks. The controversy continued when the textbook failed to revise its
tone and correct errors to the satisfaction of scholars and educators, and
recently failed to be selected even by a single high school as a textbook. However, the Ministry of Education,
Science, and Technology has continued its efforts to save it.
This talk will address issues and controversies over the
secondary school Korean history textbook and an apparent government attempt to
rewrite history to its taste, and the history war surrounding them.
Chinoh Chu is a professor of History at Sangmyung
University, where he has been teaching since 1987. He has authored or
co-authored several books including Landlords, Peasants & Intellectuals
in Modern Korea (Cornell East Asia Series, 2005), and several secondary
school Korean history textbooks. He is currently the chair of the Association
of Korean History Textbook Authors.
Persons with disabilities
interested in attending our events who may require assistance, please contact
us in advance at (812)855-3765.
East Asian Studies Center
Indiana University
1021 East Third Street
Memorial Hall West 207
Bloomington, IN 47405
Phone: (812) 855-3765
Fax: (812) 855-7762
E-mail: easc@indiana.edu
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