Korean Government-designated textbook of history for junior high schools

Korean Government-designated textbook of history for junior high schools
한국의 중학교역사교과서　－　중학교국정국사

Source : The series of world textbooks⑬　(Akashi Shoten)

　　　　　Reading the Korean history textbook　(Japanese)　

Korean Government-designated textbook of history for elementary schools
Korean textbook of history for junior high schools Ⅱ
Reading the Korean history textbook　(Japanese)
KOREAN NEWS　1 2 3 4 5 6 7
What kind of country is Korea?
Korean Fakes

Ⅰ．Characteristics

Most are political history. There are few descriptions about the culture.
It has a lot about the battles. It is just like the tales.
It has the unscientific parts, because it says the person coming out to their myth was a real person in history. It lacks in reliability. So you don’t know if whole contents are true.
Most of historical documents were written in kanji, but the current Korean cannot read kanji. Maybe that’s one of the reason the textbook includes small amount of historical documents. However, in the first place the big reason is that the historical documents do not seem to exist from a beginning.
It includes much emotional expressions. It collects the Japanese barbaric acts at the time of the Japan-Korea merger in detail, but there are no historical materials that should be quoted. So it is short in reliability remarkably. Some say it’s not a history book, but just a fantasy novel. But Koreans can not understand such a logic. Korean emotion takes first priority.
You can find Korean self‐respect in various pages.
It is pointed out that the social studies textbook for elementary school 4-6 years describes racial aspect excessively about the Korean history. （Korea・The Kyunghyang Shinmun）
- The fact that Kokuryo and Bohai was the multiracial nation is erased.
- The textbook of the elementary school has many parts that despise other races to emphasize excellence of the Korea race.
- It describes “Japanese people is inferior to us culturally” in particular throughout it.
- It has a lot of parts that make much account of Korean race lineage.
- The morality textbook for the sixth grader describes that “Our brethren living in the foreign countries are the same race as us and have the same blood relationship”.
Byung-mo Choi, the secretary general of Korea immigration workers human rights center said, “Korea is already multicultural and multiracial societies and the thought that ‘Our race is best’ is an idea of the anachronism.”

　For Korean, it is not a problem whether a historic event is true or not. It is important whether a historic event can satisfy the pride as the Korean. The Korean says to Japan and China, “Have the right history recognition”. But their “right history recognition” is such a recognition. They just say that all their fantasy history is “the right history” and the thoughts different from theirs are not “right”.

This type of frame shows the description of the textbook.

Ⅱ．Preface of the textbook

The history is a mirror lighting up today’s life and is called the window which can foresee tomorrow. Therefore, it is unacceptable that the description of the history hides the truth because our past was dark, and it is unacceptable that the description of the history exaggerates the thing that did not exist as what did exist. The description of the history must not be biased. It must be strict.

History descriptions cannot include absolute impartiality. The viewpoint of the author is definitely reflected by all means. Furthermore, it is impossible that the government-designated textbook does not reflect the political position of the government.
For example, in 2019 the textbook of social studies for elementary school deleted the word “the Miracle on the Han River” that meant the economic growth of Korea in the 1960-80’s. （Korea・Chosun Ilbo）
This is because that “the miracle” was realized by free provision money of 300 million dollars and technical assistance from Japan and the president at that time was Park Chung Hee whom Moon current administration criticizes.
The Korean cannot understand logically how the description of their history textbooks is biased.

“The examples that hides the truth because Korean past was dark” 　
1. Influence on peninsula from ancient Japan 　
  The influence that Japan gave to the southern part of peninsula is ignored entirely. 　 (comma-shaped beads made by Japanese jade, cylinder type earthenware vessel, burial mound with a square front and a round back in the area drained by the river Yeongsan, etc.) 　
  (The reason is not identified. Korea backfills the Korean Peninsula's greatest ancient grave right after it is opened.), 　 (HANKYOREH)
2. Korean Cooperation to the Mongolian Invasions
  Korean official history “History of Goryeo” says, in 1272 Korean Prince advised Chinese emperor Kublai Khan to invade Japan.
3. Participation of the Korean in Wako (Japanese pirates)
  A Korean vassal named Yi Sun-mong said, "In the late Goryeo kingdom period, Woko roaming our country and the peasants could not withstand them. However only 1 or 2 out of 10 were caused by real Japanese. Some of our peasants imitatively wore Japanese clothing, formed a group and caused trouble". (wikipedia)
4. Toadyism, the allegiance to the each China dynasty
  The Japanese invasions of Korea is expressed with “invasion”, but Mongolian invasion of Korea in the thirteenth century is expressed with “intrusion”. It ignores the historical fact that Korea depended on the Ming dynasty and Ming chose the name “Joseon” dynasty. “The invasion” by Qing dynasty is expressed simply with “interference”, but all Japanese is denounced hysterically with “invasion” or “robbery”.
5. Korean cooperators in Bunroku-Keicho War (1592 – 1598)
  A lot of tagrag and bobtail welcomed the Japanese military warmly as a liberation army, and there was the government official who tied up two princes, Im haegun and Sun hwagun and sacrificed them to the Japanese military.
6. Japanese role in the Korean independence from Qing dynasty
  Korea could finally become independent from Qing dynasty, because Shimonoseki Treaty was concluded as a result of Sino-Japanese War. It is a world common sense. However, the textbook does not write anything about Shimonoseki Treaty and writes as if independence was realized by the declaration of See Gojong. 　
　
“The examples that exaggerates the thing that did not exist as what did exist” 　
1. Making the history of “Gojoseon” (old Korean state)
  The state that is the oldest by a reliable documents record about Korea is “Wiman Joseon” coming up in “Records of the Grand Historian”. Wiman was a Chinese military leader and in about B. C. 200 he led a gang more than 1,000 and took refuge in Korea and snatched the government. There is no record about Korea before that. But the textbook says there was “Gojoseon” (old Korean state) in B. C. 2333.
2. Korean victory in Bunroku-Keicho War (1592 – 1598)
  The textbook says that Korea that should have won suffered the heaviest damage and Japan that should have been defeated by has profited most.
3. Theory that politics by the person except the king is bad (This is derived by “Cheng–Zhu school”)
  The textbook says as if politics that the relative of the queen held real power and performed an arbitrary decision of the government was a cause of the Joseon dynasty decline. If the weakening King’s power had been a cause of the decline of the country, Japan would have continued declining all the time from the Heian era to the Edo era (794 - 1868). It arrives at such an illogical conclusion that Korean cannot attack “Cheng–Zhu school”.
4. Sense of history that Japanese imperialism plundered Korea of everything
  This textbook insists obstinately as if there were no Koreans who received a benefit of the modernization. And it says that you must not evaluate a Japanese act affirmatively and thank that especially. The substantial study by Lee Yong-hoon (李榮薰, born 1951 in South Korea, a professor of Economics) and others uncovered the fictiveness of the land grab clearly, but most of the result is not taken in. The colonization rule of Japan was the severe decision by force rule early, but it switched to culture politics with 3.1 independence movement in 1919 and was relatively gentle until Japanization plan was carried out in the late 1930s. However, this textbook teaches Korean students to understand that every act of Japan was villainous and crafty.

Ⅲ．Contents

１．The formation of the ancient state

Dangun unified tribes and founded Gojoseon (old Korea).
The founding of Dangun’s Gojoseon shows that the history of our country is very old. In addition, the fact of the founding of our country by Dangun and the idea of its founding have been driving forces that reminded us of self-confidence whenever our race met difficulty afterward.

Korean will not look at history as it really was, but as they wish it to be. What they wish history to be becomes their history and it is written in their history textbook.
Dangun is a person coming out in Korean myth. Besides, “the Dangun legend” is a King of Old Korea who appears in the 13th-century “Samguk Yusa” for the first time. It is the creation that connected myths handed down to the several tribes. It is supposed that the myth of Dangun is the fictitious scripture to show the Korean independence from ancient times, and the existence of Dangun’s Korea as a nation is not approved. (wikipedia)
It is said in Korea that the Dangun’s country was born in B. C. 2333. So the name of “Dangun” comes out for the first time to the book written approximately 4,000 years later. However the Korean textbook says “Dangun” existed, though he appears in the book written 4,000 years later and his existence is groundless. It is not understandable to common persons.

(“Korean history for high school”, Samhwa publishing company, 2011) Japanese translation version

The textbook writes, “The ruler Dangun Wanggeom held a political ruler and the religious head at the same time” and “B. C.2333 Gojoseon founded” is written in the upper chronological table.
This is like the textbook that writes that Adam and Eve in the Bible existed. It’s just like the prewar Japanese history textbook, that says the Emperor Jinmu coming out to Japanese myth written in approximately 1,400 years later is the first Japanese Emperor. It is anachronism that such a description appears in a textbook in the present, and it’s surprising. It is unscientific expression.
It cannot let junior high students acquire a scientific thought even if it can let them learn nationalism.
In addition, Dankun appears in the history textbook of the high school as an real person too. Common sense does not go in Korea.
If Japanese textbook wrote, “In B. C. 660, Emperor Jinmu, the first Emperor established Yamato State (the ancient state of Japan). Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan) wrote that”, criticism would arise from all over Japan. Of course such a textbook is impossible in Japan, the United States, and Europe. (“Nihonshoki” was completed in 720.)
The first page of the history textbook like this makes you anticipate that the following pages are same too.

２．The formation of three countries

Some power of Gaya confederacy went into Japan and contributed to the development of ancient Japanese culture.

It’s enough to write “they introduced culture to Japan”, but it writes “contributed”. This shows the sense of superiority to Japan.

３．Why Goguryeo could stop aggressions by Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty

The state of the battles of Goguryeo against Sui and Tang Dynasty are written for several pages in detail. And it writes as follows in the last part.

The victory that Goguryeo won against aggression of Sui and Tang is especially memorable in our history. Sui and Tang were going to conquer Goguryeo and assume the Asian hegemony in those days. However, Goguryeo was able to overcome the national crisis by beating them.

It is a slightly emotional description.
It is unscientific expression. It writes “the national crisis”, but maybe the concept called “nation” did not exist in those days.
The concept called “Koreans” (the Korea race) is the historic product progressively formed after unification of Silla, and it is not just applicable to Goguryeo. (wikipedia)
In addition, the language system of Goguryeo is different from that of Korean used in the current Korean Peninsula. (wikipedia)

４．Silla’s unification of three kingdoms

The unification of three kingdoms by Silla was the first unification that our race accomplished, and became an important chance to make our new culture of our race.
Particularly, the fact that Silla beat Tang that had the ambition of the territory and accomplished unification shows the independent and active character of the people of Silla.
Silla accepted advanced culture from Tang to Western Regions through interchange with Tang and it was praised as “the country of the gentlemen” by Tang.
“The Silla sword” in exports by Silla won extreme popularity in Japan.

This is a slightly emotional description too. It shows the strong Korean pride.

５．Unified Silla’s relations with other countries

The Buddhism of Silla had a big influence on Japan. The books that the priests of Silla including Uisang and Wonhyo wrote were read widely in Japanese Buddhism world.
The story of Uisang and Sonmyo who helped Uisang was introduced to Japan with pictures and Wonhyo was respected very much in Japanese Buddhism world.

These are not included in Japanese textbooks.
This shows the sense of superiority to Japan.

６．Yüan’s intervention in the affairs of Korai

Yüan intervened in the affairs of Korai through the Eastern Expedition Field Headquarters triggered by the punishment of Japan.

It is not written that Korai attacked Japan at the time of Mongol invasions of Japan. And it writes Mongol invasions punished Japan. “Punishment” is to a traitor or a bad person.
Why is Japan a bad country for Yüan and Korai? It’s not “punishment”. “Attack” is good.

７．The establishment of the Kingdom of Joseon

Sejong the Great left a lot of bright achievements in each field.

“He left many achievements” is good and students can judge whether it is “bright” or not.
Emotional expressions and expressions in admiration of the own country such as the comments of the government are seen everywhere in this way.

８．Early Joseon’s relations with other countries

Japan mainly needed the cultural commodities including daily necessities and the books.

"Cultural commodities" means the sense of superiority to Japan.
It seemes to want to show that Japanese culture was behind Korean.

９．Invention of Hunminjeongeum (Hangul alphabet)

The Hangul alphabet is estimated as a very scientific and creative character and an excellent character anyone can learn and master easily.
The Hangul alphabet was an ideograph of 28 characters and can write down most sounds, and it was said that it could write down even the call of crane and sound of the wind.

It writes “The Hangul alphabet is estimated as an excellent character”, but by whom is it estimated? You don’t know if the world estimates or Korea does.
You can see Korean strong pride.
It writes “The Hangul alphabet can write down most sounds.” But it has sounds that it can’t write down. It cannot write down sounds of the “z” series and the long vowels that Korean language does not have.
If it was such an excellent letter, the king and nobles should use it, but they didn’t at all. For them the Hangul alphabet was a letter that low persons use. And they used only the kanji because they knew the benefit of the kanji. (Japan has the phonogram “Kana” too, but Japanese use both because they know the benefit of the kanji.)

It shows that technology of our country was at a global standard in those days.

You can see Korean strong pride.

１０．Invasion of the Wa military

When the Wa military invaded Korea in April, 1592, ･･････

It should write that “the Japanese military invaded”, not “the Wa military invaded”. This is because Japan had called itself Japan since the seventh century, and China had also come to call it Japan since the eighth century.
Maybe Koreans want to feel the sense of superiority to Japan.

Yi Sun-sin beat the Wa military that began to retreat at Noryang, but he died a heroic death in action in the stray shot of the enemy.

It writes, “he died a heroic death in action in the stray shot of the enemy”, but I can’t understand why his death was a heroic death. “He died a death” is good.
This is the outcome of the emotions that they want to praise Yi Sun-sin, but it is not suitable for a textbook.

１１．Result of Japanese invasions of Korea

Many people became Japanese captives during war, and some of them were sold to Europe as a slave by a Portuguese merchant.
Many cultural assets including printing types, books and the pictures were plundered by Japan.
Various cultural assets and advanced things from Korea were handed down to Japan and contributed to cultural development of Japan.

Anti-Japan mind, strong pride and the sense of superiority to Japan appear.

１２．Dispatch of Korean Tsushinshi

Korea forbade that Japanese ambassadors entered the capital and let them work only in Dongnae and let them go back. In contrast, Tsushinshi went to the capital Edo (Tokyo) in Japan and met a general of the Tokugawa shogunate and pushed forward with active diplomacy.
Tsushinshi went to Japan in response to the request of Japan and received utmost treatment and contributed to cultural development of Japan.

They want to say the Japanese ambassador could not enter the Korean capital, but the Korean ambassador could enter the Japanese capital. In other words they want to say the supremacy of Korea over Japan.
Korea sent Tsushinshi because actually Korea feared that Tokugawa shogunate government would begin the war same as the war that Hideyoshi Toyotomi had begun. But it will hurt Korean pride. So they want to emphasize, “it was the Japanese request”. In other words Korea wants to think, “Korea did not want Tsushinshi system, but Tsushinshi went to Japan because Japan begged that Korea sent them to Japan”.
“Tsushinshi contributed to cultural development of Japan”. - This is the sense of superiority to Japan again.

１３．Neutral diplomacy by Gwanghaegun

Gwanghaegun killed Yongchangdaegun and confined Queen Inmok to stabilize sovereignty. He managed public affairs against Confucianism ethic and he left a big weak point morally.

There were many incidents that were against ethics and immoral in the history. It is mysterious that the textbook writes “it’s not moral” only here.

１４．Refusal of Amity and Commerce

It was a problem that Korean policy of refusal of “Amity and Commerce” with West and Japan delayed the time when our country received Western new civilization, but it had the independent and active character that was going to check aggression by the foreign powers.

It seems to want to say, “Korea had the bad points too, but made an effort”. It is an excuse-like sentence.
It is natural that the government tries to “check aggression by the foreign powers”. That is not what you especially judge that it’s “independent and active”.

１５．Aggression by Japanese imperialism and the war by righteous army

Jeon Myeong-un and Jang In-hwan who lived in America shot an American Stevens to death in San Francisco, because Stevens who came to our country as a diplomatic advisor on recommendation of Japan said that he supported Japanese aggression of Korea when he came back to the United States.
An Jung-geun assassinated Hirobumi Ito who arrived at Harbin to talk together with a Russian representative.
Na Chol-gwa and O gi-ho organized five eulsa traitors assassins and tried to kill traitors, but it did not succeed.

Terrorism to kill politicians and private citizens receives praise. Do you think this is good?
The emotional word “traitor” is written to the textbook.

１６．National Debt Repayment Movement

Japan made up roads and the water service facilities under the name of business for the modernization of our country and established banks, schools, hospitals, etc. Such facilities were for the Japanese who came to our country.
Korean people thought that they should return the debt from Japan by People Power. In that way National Debt Repayment Movement began in 1907. People in this way contributed the money they got by smoking cessation and temperance as a donation. This movement was developed as the nationalist movement, but it was canceled by the interference of Japanese Resident-General of Korea.

Such facilities should have been good for the Korean as well as Japanese.
The Taiwanese still feels a feeling of gratitude for the dam that Japanese built, but the Korean won’t accept the positive aspect of the facilities at all. It is one of Korean national traits.
It writes they got the money “by smoking cessation and temperance”. Very concrete and literary expression is used. Korean emotion is put in it. It is inappropriate for a textbook of the history.
What happened to the collected money? It is not written. Did somebody steal the money secretly? I’m interested in that.

１７．Racial Independence Movement

The sentences are written as “Japan did ･･････” so far. They suddenly turn into the sentence like “Ilje (Japanese Imperialism) did ･･････” from this chapter.

This is because the person in charge of each chapter is different. They should unify the terms, but it is not performed.
This is the outcome of “Kenchanayo”, one of Korean national traits. “Kenchanayo” means “Don’t worry about details” or “Don’t mind a trifle.” or “Never mind”, but they should unify details well.

１８．Usurpation of Industries

Ilje (Japanese Imperialism) made up railroads, roads, harbors, the facilities, etc. to make Korea a clue of the continent aggression.

Such facilities should have been good for the Korean as well as Japanese. The Taiwanese still feels a feeling of gratitude for the dam that Japanese built, but the Korean won’t accept the positive aspect of the facilities at all. It is one of Korean national traits.

１９．Plundering of visible resources and human resources

At the end game of the war, Ilje plundered any materials for the weapon such as scrap iron, containers of the brass, spoons and chopsticks, nails, etc. Ilje also let Korean people take off the pine bark and take the rosin to use them as fuel of the airplanes.

This was performed not only in Korea, but also in Japan. They seem to think that it is only in Korea. Their history study is superficial.

２０．Patriots

The Heroic Corps launched heroic movement in Korea and Shanghai in the 1920s. Na Seok-ju went into Oriental Development Company and shot the executive to death and fought against the police of Ilje in the inner-city.　
Yun Bong-gil hurled a bomb at the ceremonial hall in Hongkou park in Shanghai where occupation of Shanghai by Japanese military was celebrated, and he punished the Japanese military.

Does it become the heroic movement to murder a company executive of the private citizen? Is he a patriot?
Korea seems to think that it becomes the heroic movement to murder any Japanese.
I don’t understand what “he punished” means. Does it mean that he threw a bomb but the Japanese military were only surprised? Or does it mean that there were casualties?
The emotional expression “he punished” is good for propaganda, but is not good for a textbook.

２１．Korean Liberation Army

When Ilje (Japanese Imperialism) began the Pacific War, the Republic of Korea provisional government declared war against Japan and promoted an independence war with allied powers. In particular, the Korean Liberation Army disturbed the rear of the enemy and produced results by various special operations.
The Korean Liberation Army planned a strategy to enter Korea, beat Ilje and achieve the independence of our mother country. But this plan was not carried out because of the surrender of Ilje. However, it showed the effort that we autonomously tried to accomplish the independence of our mother country and liberation of our race.
The active independence war of our race was known to each country as above, and the world Great Powers came to be interested in the independence problem of Korea.

It is not written in Japanese textbooks that the armed forces of the Korean provisional government damaged the Japanese military. It is thought that Korean army did not achieve results as textbook takes them up.
Like France, Korea want to insist that Korea was the victorious nation that fought as a member of allied powers. Unfortunately Korea is not recognized as the victorious nation in the world. Korea is said that it was defeated as a part of Japan.
French De Gaulle came back to France and fought the enemy with Britain and the United States, but in the case of Korea, they did not come back at home and fight against the Japan forces.
It sounds like the excuse that they could not act like French De Gaulle. It is a sentence of a lame excuse. It means, “We did not carry it out, but did only the effort”, but it means that capacity for organization and the solidarity power that carried out a strategy were short after all.
The Korean independence movement is not known to the world that much. It is said, “Kim Il Sung did an independence war”, but it is well known that Kim Il Sung who comes out to the textbook was actually in the Soviet Union.
After all maybe they hope that they did independence movement and the independence war very much during the reign of Japan.

２２．Park Chung Hee’s administration

The Park Chung Hee’s administration improved relations with Japan that had been the homework for a long time and concluded “The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea” with Japan and dispatched the national military in Vietnam.

By this treaty, Japan paid a large amount of money, more than 800 million dollars as economic cooperation. (This was not compensation because Japan was not in war state with Korea in the World War 2.)
Simply speaking, this treaty means that Japan pays an economic allowance to Korea, on the other hand, Korea does not raise a matter of a past in future.
These are not written at all. Therefore, most Koreans do not know that Japan paid money as economic cooperation.