Gov`t to lodge new protest over Japanese textbook

The government said Wednesday that it was determined to react strongly to a possible move by the Tokyo government to approve in early April controversial history textbooks that distort history. Reactions may include a formal demand that mistakes be removed through a re-screening.

At the downtown Central Government Building Thursday morning, Vice Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki-Moon will lead a meeting of representatives from the Presidential Office, the Office of the Prime Minister, the State Publicity Agency and the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development to work out countermeasures. The Japanese government recently told the Seoul government that Japan`s education, science and technology ministry would decide on the final versions of the textbooks Friday and announce the results of its screening on Apr. 3.

On the basis of the information received from Japan on the approved textbooks, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development would put their contents under close review and take follow-up measures in conjunction with other agencies concerned.

Boo Hyung-Kwon bookum90@donga.com