Ministry of Education Organizes Special Team for Goguryo History

The government decided on Wednesday to organize a special team in the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development to cope with the possibility that the Chinese government may have distorted the history of Goguryo by revising history textbooks in junior high and high schools in China. It also decided to demand a correction immediately via diplomatic channels when a distortion is found.

Chung Soon-gyoon, the Government Information Agency chief, said that the government held the mediation council of pending government affairs on the same day at the residential office of Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan (Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul), and this was agreed at this meeting.

Prime Minister Lee ordered in this meeting to prepare differentiated measures for China, Korea, and the third party countries. He particularly ordered to collect history textbook materials used in the third party countries and find out how our history is reflected there, saying, “We need to inform our history correctly to the third party countries as well.”

Meanwhile, regarding the history textbook revision by the Chinese government, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Gi-moon said in a domestic and foreign press briefing on the same day, “We will focus our best diplomatic effort not to let them to include the distorted part.” In regard to the movement from some politicians trying to make an issue out of the “Gando Agreement” (an agreement made between China and Japan in 1909, ignoring Korea’s will, on the issues including the dominium of Gando), Minister Ban said, “It is a complex and sensitive issue, and we will cope with this in prudence based on experts’ researches after we collect more accurate historical evidence and ascertain them.”

In response to a question about the possibility to push the Dalai Lama’s visit to Korea to oppose the Goguryo history distortion by the Chinese government, he said, “The Dalai Lama’s visit to Korea is an issue to be considered when the situation is proper. It is not desirable to associate these two issues.”

Yeon-Wook Jung Hyong-gwon Pu yongari@donga.com bookum90@donga.com