Kim Mu-sung, a representative of Saenuri Party, agreed that it is necessary that a neutral government-authorized Korean history textbook for students should be introduced to prevent confusion about biased history education.
  On the other hand, Lee Jong-geol, a representative of New Politics Alliance for Democracy, disagreed. He said, “A government-authorized Korean history textbook should be not accepted. Historical interpretation between conservatism and progressivism can be different, but it should not be twisted or hidden for political purpose.”
  Other people started to state their opinions. 34 professors of Seoul National University and 2,255 teachers from elementary, middle, and high schools disagreed with the authorization. However, Hwang Woo-yeo, the Minister of Education, agreed with it while the superintendents of Education in Seoul, Gangwon, Incheon, and other cities disagreed. On 4th of the same month, the descendants of anti-Japanese independence activists and some historians requested that the government should stop the authorization.
  In an interview with Park Geol-sun, who is a professor in the Dept. of History, strongly disagreed. He said, “As a chairman of the Association for Korean Modern and Contemporary History, I have launched a campaign to disagree with the authorization. Diverse evaluation is vital in history, but the government unifying it seems very risky and anti-historical. It is obvious that the whole world admits the bad effects of government-authorized textbooks in that only a few countries, such as Bangladesh and North Korea, are using them. The government should notice that it is possible for them to describe specific events or historical figures from a political perspective, but it could be rejected if the government changes. I think it is necessary for ordinary people or students to have a keen interest about the essentials of this controversy.”
  According to this situation, Park Jae-gyeong(’14, Dept. of English Language and Literature) said, “I heard that current history textbooks have many errors and subjective perspectives. If textbooks could be free and neutral from political problems, I would want to advocate a government-authorized textbook.” On the other hand, Jo Ji-eun(’14, Dept. of English Language and Literature) said, “I agree with Jae-gyeong’s opinion. However, I think the current government is unreliable. I heard that a past textbook made by New Right* is not a good textbook and that the current president is affiliated with New Right, so I cannot trust the government anymore.” Also, Gwon Hyeok-jun(’11, School of Business) said, “If distorted history is written in a government-authorized textbook, we no longer have a right to blame Japan, so I disagree with it.” Choi Da-young(’13, School of Business) said, “I heard that North Korea uses government-authorized textbooks. As you know, the system of North Korea is a dictatorship. I feel scared because our system seems to resemble North Korea’s.”
  The Ministry of Education is considering two ways the government-authorized way and an approved way by the Ministry of Education. They will decide on one of them at the end of September.

*New Right: An affiliation which consists of people who advocate authorization

By Go So-young
sy35@cbnu.ac.kr