'Liberal democracy' to 'democracy', new guidelines for history textbooks
- 6 years ago
The Ministry of Education plans to announce new guidelines for history textbooks in about two months, and has released a draft proposal made by its affiliate research institute.
The guidelines will affect textbooks for middle and high school students starting from 2020.
Seo Bo-bin with the details.
School textbook guidelines have long been a controversial subject in Korea, and the Ministry of Education's latest draft guidelines for middle and high school textbooks are likely to be no exception.
The guidelines will replace those issued under the Park Geun-hye administration, which were criticized for containing too much conservative content.
The Ministry of Education has released a draft proposal made by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, which has removed the changes made by the Park administration.
But there are some other changes in the new guidelines.
The expression that South Korea is "the only legitimate state on the Korean Peninsula" has been taken out. According to the UN resolution, South Korea was listed as "The only legitimate government registered by UN Temporary Commission on Korea," and the research institute said the expression wasn't suitable.
Also, the expression 'liberal democracy' has been changed to 'democracy'.
Conservatives have claimed that without the word 'liberal', there is the possibility that 'democracy' could be interpreted as 'social democracy' or 'people's democracy'. In regards to the Korean war, conservatives have insisted that the expression North's "invasion of the South" should be used, while the liberal sides do not completely agree.
The ministry said the new and revised version of the guidelines will be reviewed by a committee made up of government officials, educators and others from the private sector.
The final proposal will then be announced in early July
Seo Bo-bin, Arirang News
The guidelines will affect textbooks for middle and high school students starting from 2020.
Seo Bo-bin with the details.
School textbook guidelines have long been a controversial subject in Korea, and the Ministry of Education's latest draft guidelines for middle and high school textbooks are likely to be no exception.
The guidelines will replace those issued under the Park Geun-hye administration, which were criticized for containing too much conservative content.
The Ministry of Education has released a draft proposal made by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, which has removed the changes made by the Park administration.
But there are some other changes in the new guidelines.
The expression that South Korea is "the only legitimate state on the Korean Peninsula" has been taken out. According to the UN resolution, South Korea was listed as "The only legitimate government registered by UN Temporary Commission on Korea," and the research institute said the expression wasn't suitable.
Also, the expression 'liberal democracy' has been changed to 'democracy'.
Conservatives have claimed that without the word 'liberal', there is the possibility that 'democracy' could be interpreted as 'social democracy' or 'people's democracy'. In regards to the Korean war, conservatives have insisted that the expression North's "invasion of the South" should be used, while the liberal sides do not completely agree.
The ministry said the new and revised version of the guidelines will be reviewed by a committee made up of government officials, educators and others from the private sector.
The final proposal will then be announced in early July
Seo Bo-bin, Arirang News