A vehicle sprays disinfectant on a road in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, on Jan. 31, 2017, as a precaution to prevent the spread of avian influenza after seven pigeons were found dead there. The nation’s deadliest outbreak of bird flu has ravaged poultry farms nationwide since mid-November. (Yonhap)
It seems like the only thing controversial about the final version of the state sponsored history textbooks is the fact that it is an initiative from the Park Geun-hye administration:
State sponsored history textbooks [KBS World Radio]The Ministry of Education released Tuesday the final versions of controversial state-authored history textbooks for middle and high school students, which are supposed to go into use from 2018.
The ministry said it made some 760 edits to the textbooks after drafts were revealed to the public in November, using the feedback it received.
The most notable change is the official description of Aug. 15, 1948, as Foundation Day of the Republic of Korea. Some historians have argued that date should be described as the foundation of the government of the Republic of Korea, because the country was founded in 1919, with the founding of the provisional government in Shanghai by independence activists.
While the state-authored textbooks will call Aug. 15, 1948, Foundation Day of the Republic of Korea, the ministry said authorized private history textbooks can describe the date as the foundation date of the country or the government.
The ministry added that schools will still be able to opt between authorized private history textbooks and state-authored history textbooks from 2018, when the state-authored history textbooks will be put to use.
According to the ministry, other notable changes to the final versions of the state-authored textbooks include extended details on pro-Japan forces during the Japanese annexation of Korea from 1910 to 1945. The state-authored history textbooks admit that the government failed to make strong efforts to discover and take disciplinary action against pro-Japan forces.
The ministry also said the new textbooks admit the delay in the government’s efforts to get the facts straight on Jeju Island’s April 3rd Uprising. It is generally understood that the details of the brutal atrocities committed against suspected leftists on the island in 1948 were hushed up by the government until after the democratization movement of the country in the late 1990s.
The previous drafts of the state-authored textbooks were also criticized for overly praising the work of former President Park Chung Hee. The initial draft of the high school textbook spent four pages describing the former president’s positive achievements, while allotting only half a page for the negatives that accompanied them.
The revised and final version of the high school textbook, the ministry said, admits that Park’s Saemaul (New Village) Movement “had its limits.” But the textbook will still allot nine pages to history related to former President Park. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I don’t see how you can tell the modern history of Korea without a lot of pages on Park Chung-hee considering how long he ruled the country and the sweeping changes he made.
This is a big surprise and it shows how poisonous the political environment in South Korea is right now. With that said Ban clearly doesn’t have what it takes to be President if he can’t handle “fake news” put out by the political opposition:
Ban Ki-moon
Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dropped his bid for president Wednesday, capping an end to his three-week journey to the Blue House as he has found himself facing a myriad of controversies and questions over his political skills and qualifications.
Standing before reporters during a hastily arranged press briefing at the National Assembly around 3:30 p.m., the former UN chief announced he would stop seeking to capture the country’s highest elected office while acknowledging that he had wanted to lead the nation as it is mired in a crisis with President Park Geun-hye now impeached.
“I told the people my intention was to bring about national unity because the country was deeply divided,” said the 72-year-old, adding he had wanted to capitalize on his 10-year career as the UN chief to help the country by throwing himself into politics.
Then Ban blamed the political establishment for his decision to drop out of the race, saying, “I have found political players very selfish, whose mindsets are stuck in the past. I have come to the conclusion that it is meaningless for me to continue my path with them. Reflecting on this judgment, I decided to rescind my decision to take a lead in reforming politics and accomplishing national unity.”
Ban used harsh words in denouncing the political establishment and press for having washed his political aspirations away, going so far as to liken critical reports of his domestic activity over the past three weeks to character assassination.
“My sincere patriotism has been tainted by fake news and rumors that are akin to an act of murder of my character, leaving a scar on the UN for which I devoted 10 years as its chief and disappointing many people.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
I am surprised this poll showed 5% of people wanting to pay more to keep US forces in Japan. It will be interesting to see what this number is whenever a similar poll in Korea is done:
A C-5M Super Galaxy arrives at Yokota Air Base, Japan, last year. A Nikkei poll taken this past weekend found that 57 percent of Japanese favored maintaining spending on U.S. bases at current levels, while 30 percent said Japan is spending too much. YASUO OSAKABE/U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO
Japanese citizens do not want to pay more for hosting U.S. military personnel and are now more likely to predict a downturn in bilateral relations, according to a Nikkei poll released Monday.
The survey taken this past weekend found that 57 percent of Japanese favored maintaining spending on U.S. bases at current levels, while 30 percent said Japan is spending too much. Five percent said Japan should spend more, the poll said.
Japan pays an average of 189.3 billion yen — or between $1.65 billion and $1.95 billion, depending on currency exchange rates — per year to support U.S. bases in the country as part of a five-year deal signed in 2015. [Stars & Stripes]
This year’s Key Resolve exercise will have a little twist with the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff leading it:
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff will lead a combined military exercise with the U.S. from a new command center in March amid growing threats from North Korea, military officials said Monday.
“During the upcoming Key Resolve exercise, Seoul’s JCS will be responsible for exercise planning and control, operation of opposing forces, and after-drill meetings,” an official at the defense ministry said.
The exercise’s command center will be set up in an underground bunker of South Korea’s Capital Defense Command, as the JCS will lead the annual exercise with the U.S. staff playing a supporting role, according to the ministry.
When the U.S. side led the exercise, the command center used to be set up at the bunker of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command.
The JCS led the Key Resolve drills in 2013 as South Korea was scheduled to regain wartime operational control (OPCON) from Washington in 2015. But the OPCON transfer was pushed back amid Pyongyang’s provocations. Seoul and Washington agreed on the “conditions-based” transfer, which observers say could come in mid-2020s. [Yonhap]
I guess when it is winter in Denmark there must not be anything better to do then protest outside a detention center:
In front of the detention center where Chung Yoo-ra is held on Jan. 13, a candlelight rally is held demanding her repatriation. About 20 overseas Koreans and locals exclaim, “Yoo-ra, let’s go back to Korea!” [LEE HYUN]On Jan. 13, there were about 20 overseas Koreans, from places such as Copenhagen, London, and Sweden, gathered with locals carrying candles in front of the detention center in Aalborg. Like the weekly Saturday rallies held in Gwanghwamun square in Seoul, they were picketing, saying, “Yoo-ra, let’s go back to South Korea” and “Instead of pizza, eat some [Korean food].”
At the Aalborg detention center one has the luxury to order in pizza. The individual to first propose a candlelight vigil was an overseas Korean residing in Sweden named Lim Ji-hye.
“Compared to Northern Europe,” she said, “our country is still at a stage where we do not have democracy. I think that this is something we must experience as democratic growing pains.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
