South Korean Government Is Set To Announce Details On State-Written History Textbooks; NPAD Floor Leader Lee Jong Kul Suggests Parliamentary Investigation

The controversy brought about by the government's move to publish state-written history textbooks for secondary school students did not hinder South Korea's Ministry of Education to bare details of its decision Oct. 12.

An official of Education Ministry who asked for anonymity said the announcement of the Education Minister Hwang Woo Yea, which happened during a briefing session at the Sejong Government Complex aimed to elucidate on the reason of the history books' latest development.

"Education Minister Hwang Woo Yea will be announcing that the government will exclusively publish history textbooks and explain the reason and purpose to the media," the anonymous official says, as reported by Korea Joongang Daily on the same day.

It has been earlier considered that the state-sanctioned history textbooks publication is geared towards eliminating "ideological bias" insinuated by the existing textbooks used in schools.

Chairman of the ruling Saenuri Party Kim Moo Sung says the history accounted by the current textbooks are more inclined to the beliefs of North Korea and thus, exposing the students to Juche or the principle of "Self-Reliance".

"It seems they intend to teach students a popular revolution based on left-leaning perspective of history," he said, as quoted by Yonhap News Agency on Oct. 7.

He further claimed that the North's ideology instilled into the young minds "a sense of defeatism" and made them think that problems are faults of the society and the government.

However, the nationalistic decision of the state did not please the majority as it gathered several oppositions from thousands of educators and liberals in the recent weeks.

New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) floor leader Lee Jong Kul reveals the decision should be agreed upon by the majority of people.

"Letting the government exclusively publish history textbooks needs a social consensus," Lee said.

"I suggest a parliamentary investigation into the qualification system for history textbooks to find out the problems and discuss how to change the system," he added.