`The System of a National Textbook of Korean History Should Be Abolished`

`It is the time for the national textbook of Korean History.` Domestic historians and teachers who collaborated in the fluctuation of Japanese right wing textbook, has now made the national textbook of Korean History as their target.

`The protesting body against Japanese right wing textbook` will hold a symposium at 2:30 p.m. on 10th in Kyung Joo youth hostel with the theme, ` Searching for the new system for more desirable history education and textbook`.

The body includes 8 civil bodies such as the research institute of historical issues, the research institute for history education, and the national group of history teachers.

In Korea, we have only one national Korean history textbook by the committee of Korean History, and all middle and high schools use the same textbook without exception.

The system of a national textbook was brought by the Park Jung Hee administration and this is very different from the system of Japan allowing 9 authorized textbooks.

Teacher Shin Byoung Chul (Seoul Kongdong high school) pointed out in his report that `` the current national history textbook unifies historical consciousness. `` Insisting on the need of many authorized textbooks, he added, ``The current national history textbook is no more than a dictatorship. ``

Against the assertion of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources that the current history textbook cannot be called a national textbook but should be called a kind of textbook edited by the committee of the Korean History, Jee Soo-Gul professor (Kong Joo University, History education department) said, `` the current history textbook is a national textbook since the state interferes with the editing too much.``

Professor Gee said, `` the current history textbook is distorting our history intentionally in order to generate a royalty and submission to the state and people. The worn out discourse on Korean people and the state should be boldly liquidated. ``

In the symposium, not only the content of the textbook but also problems rising from the history education will be discussed.

A research member of appraising committee of the Korean education Lee Nyung-Hee pointed out that there has not been any discussion on many issues of history education although it has been 50 years since the modern history education began. Especially, the process of information, globalization, aging, and new relationship between two Koreas should be urgently discussed, she added.

According to one opinion, however, the discussion on history education is not absolutely clear; and teachers are trying to strengthen their power in the field of education.

Acknowledging this opinion, professor Yang Hoo-Whan (Seoul National University, History education department) said in his report, ``We historians and teachers should seriously discuss about the content, and the way of progessing education than the assertion that we should teach history, in order to clarifying the misunderstandings.``

skkim@donga.com