Korean gov't urges Japan to repeal its legally-binding teaching guidelines that include false claims on Dokdo
- 6 years ago
Japan is once again getting involved in a sensitive territorial issue,... angering South Korea at a time when Seoul and Tokyo need to work together amid the push for diplomacy with North Korea.
In its official gazette released Friday,... the Japanese government said it's revising high school teaching guidelines to say -- wrongly -- that Dokdo Island in the East Sea is Japanese territory, not Korean.
Our Park Ji-won has more on this.
Ji-won, tell us more.
Yes, Mark, disappointingly,... the Japanese government has announced its revised teaching guidelines for high school students through its official gazette on Friday.
With the announcement,... Japan now has the legal basis to teach false and distorted information to its future generations.
Last year, the Japanese government also revised its legally-binding teaching guidelines for elementary and middle school students,... to include wrong territorial claims toward Korea's easternmost island Dokdo.
Back in 2008, Japan first started to include the provocative claim that Korea and Japan do not share a common understanding on Dokdo in its non-legally-binding middle school teaching guideline commentary,... causing strong protests and a backlash from the Korean government.
So now it seems that,... for the last ten years,... despite official protests from Korea,... Japan has made its education system from elementary school to high school,... teach students these false territorial claims over Dokdo.
With the changes,... publishers of school textbooks in Japan are now required by law to refer to Dokdo as Japanese territory.
With the changes,... the textbooks for elementary schools should include such wrongful territorial claims from 2020,... middle school books from 2021,... and high school textbooks from 2022.
The Korean government has strongly criticized the Japanese government's move,... urging it to repeal its legally-binding teaching guidelines.
On Friday morning, a statement by Korea's foreign ministry said Dokdo is historically and legally Korea's territory,... which was first occupied during Japan's attempt to colonize Korea in the past,... and it vowed to strongly respond to such moves.
In its official gazette released Friday,... the Japanese government said it's revising high school teaching guidelines to say -- wrongly -- that Dokdo Island in the East Sea is Japanese territory, not Korean.
Our Park Ji-won has more on this.
Ji-won, tell us more.
Yes, Mark, disappointingly,... the Japanese government has announced its revised teaching guidelines for high school students through its official gazette on Friday.
With the announcement,... Japan now has the legal basis to teach false and distorted information to its future generations.
Last year, the Japanese government also revised its legally-binding teaching guidelines for elementary and middle school students,... to include wrong territorial claims toward Korea's easternmost island Dokdo.
Back in 2008, Japan first started to include the provocative claim that Korea and Japan do not share a common understanding on Dokdo in its non-legally-binding middle school teaching guideline commentary,... causing strong protests and a backlash from the Korean government.
So now it seems that,... for the last ten years,... despite official protests from Korea,... Japan has made its education system from elementary school to high school,... teach students these false territorial claims over Dokdo.
With the changes,... publishers of school textbooks in Japan are now required by law to refer to Dokdo as Japanese territory.
With the changes,... the textbooks for elementary schools should include such wrongful territorial claims from 2020,... middle school books from 2021,... and high school textbooks from 2022.
The Korean government has strongly criticized the Japanese government's move,... urging it to repeal its legally-binding teaching guidelines.
On Friday morning, a statement by Korea's foreign ministry said Dokdo is historically and legally Korea's territory,... which was first occupied during Japan's attempt to colonize Korea in the past,... and it vowed to strongly respond to such moves.