Former Representative Kim Boo Kyum Talks About Organizing A ‘New Political Circle’ To Solve Unending Social Issues In South Korea

Former representative Kim Boo Kyum revealed in an interview that he is not hopeful that South Korea's social issues will be reduced from the current political circle. Hence, Kim suggested that forming a new one would solve the unending concerns in the country, according to Korea Joongang Daily Wednesday.

"It's hard to come up with a solution while [the ruling and opposition parties] keep blaming each other," he says. "I believe that any moderate politician from either side who pursues reasonable policymaking should organize a new political circle and make active moves to solve chronic social problems."

"If I win a seat in the upcoming general election, I would like to play a central role in forming such a political opinion group, undeterred by the existing political order," Kim adds.

Kim, who is a member of the social-liberal political party New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), also said that politicians who have less knowledge on the issue of state-authored history books should leave the matters to experts and historians.

"The ruling party's argument that our current textbooks are teaching the Juche ideology [upheld in North Korea] simply doesn't make any sense, and I don't think the opposition was thoughtful enough by regarding this issue simply as part of the Park Geun Hye administration's efforts to glamorize President Park Chung Hee," Kim says.

The South Korean government announced its plan to change the existing history books in the country with a new one called "correct history books."

Education Minister Hwang Woo Yea reportedly said that "current history textbooks contain errors in historical facts and contents that have caused controversy over ideological bias," as noted by Al Jazeera Oct. 13.

"This has been causing confusion over history perception among students and also a division in national discourse and social conflicts," Hwang adds.