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일본 교과서 문제의 역사적 경위
Historical background of the Japanese textbook issues The screening results of Japanese elementary textbooks were announced on March 28th. There was more attention on the results from the media due to the Korea-Japan summit on March 16th before the announcement. The media’s interest focused on two things. The first was whether Korea was blindsided when looking at the results of the screening since we first reached out to improve Korea-Japan relations at the summit. The second was whether the description of Dokdo and colonization has deteriorated. The curriculum, which is the basis for textbooks that passed the recent screening, was revised in 2017, and it is difficult to confirm the assertion of being blindsided by Japan to be true considering that publishers applied for the screening in April and May of last year with most of the process completed the previous year. The current textbooks that passed the screening need to be compared to the ones from four years ago to determine whether they have deteriorated. They should be examined within the overall flow of changes in the contents of Japanese textbooks.
Nam Sang-gu, Head of the NAHF Research Policy Office
갈수록 심화되는 일본의 역사왜곡 ⋯ 초등학교 교과서까지 확대
Deepening historical distortion by Japan: Expanding to elementary school textbooks At the end of March every year, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan(MEXT) announces the results of the textbook screening. It’s known as the “calendar variable” since it is repeated every year. Without exception, MEXT announced the screening results of elementary school textbooks for 2024 on March 28th of this year. The recent announcement was for textbooks that applied for screening in April and May of 2022 and is the second announcement since the revision of the elementary school curriculum in 2017. The details do not significantly differ from 2019. Japanese textbooks for elementary schools became a diplomatic issue since textbooks began to include maps and descriptions of Dokdo in 2010. Only one elementary school textbook screened in 2010 included Dokdo, but this deepened Japan’s distortion of the island at every announcement of the screening. Descriptions such as “illegal occupation” and “an inherent part of the Japanese territory” expanded in 2014, and the explanation of Dokdo relatively increased in 2019, which included visual aids such as maps and photos. Teaching “Dokdo is currently illegally occupied by Korea and Japan is protesting to recover Dokdo, a Japanese territory” could develop prejudices about Korea in Japanese students. There are concerns of elementary school textbooks may expand the distorted historical awareness to Japanese children who are learning history for the first time. Descriptions of Korea in social studies textbooks indicate the historical awareness of Japan. In this section, descriptions related to Dokdo and Korean history in 14 social studies textbooks in grades three to six that passed the 2023 screening will be reviewed while also examining Japan’s policies on textbooks. Publishers that applied for the screening are Tokyo Shoseki, Kyoiku Shuppan, and Nihon Bunkyo Shuppan.
Cho Yoon-soo, Director of NAHF International Relations and Historical Dialogue Research Institute
우리 근현대사를 지켜본 단풍나무섬 풍도(楓島)
Pungdo, an island of maple trees that overlooked our modern and contemporary history Exploration of Pungdo canceled by a dense fog The NAHF Korea-China Relations History Research Institute departed on the morning of April 6th to explore the historical site of the Battle of Pungdo in 1894 during the First Sino-Japanese War. After the wait until 1 PM, we had to retrieve from our trip as departures to Pungdo were canceled due to the dense fog. The morning mists were also hovering over the southwest sea of the island at the time of the Battle of Pungdo on July 25, 1894. The intention of our trip to Pungdo was to take a look at the historical site. Pungdo, located off Asan Bay is within the administrative district of Pungdo-dong, Danwon-gu, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do with a gross area of 1.51 m2 and about 100 residents. The island has gained a reputation as a paradise of wildflowers since 2012 and is visited by many tourists. Above all things, Pungdo is a witness to major historical events for being located on the sea lane.
Park Jang-bae, a research fellow at NAHF Korea-China Relations History Research Institute
제국주의 일본의 ‘왕도낙토’ 만주: 침략과 ‘공존’, 강제의 중층적 지대
Manchuria, the “Royal Road and Paradise” of Imperial Japan: Invasion and “Coexistence,” a Multilayered Region of Coercion he defeat of the Japanese Empire and Korea’s liberation in August 1945 was an event where Koreans in Manchuria had to decide a fork in the road about their new life. About 1 million Koreans residing in northeast China before the liberation returned to the Korean peninsula while others remained and obtained Chinese citizenship(they are referred to as Joseonjok or ethnic Koreans in China) in 1952. Joseonjok began to establish themselves as members of the community in each industrial site of Korea after the establishment of Korean-Chinese diplomatic relations in 1992. Joseonjok in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture(abbreviated to Yanbian) has already settled into Korean society for more than 30 years. Their culture is a medium that narrows the differences between Korea and China. Manchuria was a region that continued to be a center and margin throughout history. It was highlighted as a place with the “spirit of Goguryeo” to Koreans from ancient to modern times amid the formation and extinction of dynasties and a modern nation. To the Japanese, it was a place where they once achieved the “dream of an Empire.” In Chinese history, Manchuria was where minor ethnic groups ascended and acknowledged and emphasized as the birthplace of the Qing dynasty. In the present day, it is also a region where China is ambitiously planning and implementing the “Promotion Strategy for Northeast China.” Korean patriots carried out independence movements with the world as their stage to recover their country since the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910. Manchuria is where they fought most fiercely against the Japanese Empire. Today, Manchuria is still inscribed as a significant location to Koreans that embodies the history of time and space of the Korean independence movement.
Associate Professor Kim Ju-yong, Korean Chinese Relations Institute, Wonkwang University
고구려 부뚜막은 아궁이 방향이 다르다고?
Why the Agungi(Furnace) of Goguryeo Buttumak(Stove) Was in a Different Direction Jjimjilbang = ondol, Korean content Jjimjilbang is one of the cultural contents that promote Korea. Neither the government nor civilians single out jjimjilbang as Korean content to promote it to the world, but jjimjilbangs are seen throughout the Korean society, and locals also pay a visit to enjoy the hot sauna. Jjimjilbang is definitely the Korean content that is spreading quietly. Jjimjilbang is based on the principle of ondol, an underfloor heating system familiar to Koreans. Korean ondol began from Buk-okjeo(Northern Okjeo) and was passed down to Goguryeo. Burning wood in the agungi(furnace) heats the floors by warming the gudeul(stone) installed on top of the gorae(air duct) as the heat travels under the floor through several rows of gorae. The heated gudeul warms up the thin earthen floor which then warms up those laying down on the floor. This principle was applied to heating homes. If there are several rooms in the house, the fire started in agungi warms up the room not adjacent to the kitchen, as it immediately circulates through the gorae while the room adjacent to the kitchen heats the pot placed on the buttumak (stove) as well as heating the room. Thus, cooking and heating can be done simultaneously once a fire is started. This is why the fire starting in the agungi of buttumaks is best to burn steadily. If the wood burns too quickly, the high temperature may boil the soup and cook the rice quickly, but the heat circulating in the gorae will be too strong, delivering excessive heat to the gudeul.
Professor Jeon Ho-tae, Department of History and Culture, University of Ulsan
“국속을 복슈허고 지구상 인류에 평등허기를 위허여” - 프랑스의 독립운동가 홍재하 -
“To Avenge the Nation and to Allow Equality to Humanity on Earth” - Hong Jae-ha, an independence activist in France - The first diplomacy with the world powers since the foundation of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea is indisputably the Mission of the Republic of Korea in Paris which reported the ruthless and inhumane brutality by Japan and petitioned for the independence of Korea during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. France was not willing to welcome the independence activists from the government in exile, and it was Hong Jae-ha(1892~1960) who helped the Mission of the Republic of Korea in Paris to do their duties which included Kim Kyu-sik, Hwang Gi-hwan, and Lee Gwan-yong. He was the figure who led the Association of Korean Residents in France, the first Korean group in France composed of Korean laborers and international students. The first diplomacy with the world powers since the foundation of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea is indisputably the Mission of the Republic of Korea in Paris which reported the ruthless and inhumane brutality by Japan and petitioned for the independence of Korea during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. France was not willing to welcome the independence activists from the government in exile, and it was Hong Jae-ha(1892~1960) who helped the Mission of the Republic of Korea in Paris to do their duties which included Kim Kyu-sik, Hwang Gi-hwan, and Lee Gwan-yong. He was the figure who led the Association of Korean Residents in France, the first Korean group in France composed of Korean laborers and international students.
Lee Jang-kyu, a researcher at the Centre for Studies on China, Korea and Japan, Paris Diderot University(Paris 7)
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