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The results of Japanese government's screening on textbooks for middle school students were released on March 30. It was the first screening after the following law and guidelines were announced, and everyone paid keen attention to the screening results: 1) New Fundamental Law of Education which was revised in December 2006 to stress the importance of patriotism; 2) New Curriculum Guidelines (revised in March 2008); 3) Commentary of Curriculum Guidelines which was revised in July 2008 to emphasize the need for history education regarding Dokdo. As we expected since the Commentary of Curriculum Guidelines stated that history education should be reinforced for Dokdo as well as for Northern Territories, all geography and social studies textbooks contained paragraphs regarding Dokdo. It was the first time the Dokdo issue was addressed in history textbooks, in which paragraphs about "comfort women" were completely taken out.

On March 31, the day after when the screening results were released, the Northeast Asian History Foundation (hereinafter referred to as "the Foundation") held a forum discussion, inviting experts to analyze the textbooks which passed the authorization process and to explore ways to cope with them. The forum began with the following four presentations: 1) Preliminary review on Korea-related content in Japanese history textbooks to be used for middle school classes in 2011 (Lee Jaeseok, Research Fellow, the Foundation); 2) Dokdo-related content in Japanese textbooks and problems (Nam Sanggu, Research Fellow, the Foundation); 3) Current status of and prospect for development of Dokdo-related teaching material in Shimane Prefecture (Shim Jeongbo, Research Fellow, the Foundation); 4) Description of Dokdo in Korean textbooks (Professor Seo Taeyeol, Department of Geography Education, Korea University). The presentations were followed by panel discussion session (chaired by Lee Myeongchan, Research Fellow, the Foundation) where Peter Beck (Research Fellow at Keio University), Hosaka Yuji (Professor, Sejong University), Shin Jubaek (HK Research Professor, Yonsei University), and Lee Hun (Research Fellow, Dokdo Research Institute) discussed the background and meaning of the Japanese textbook incident and explored countermeasures. A lot of journalists came to report the discussions that day, and the forum served as a good opportunity to inform the public of the problems and issues regarding Japanese textbooks in a prompt manner.

Analysis on Japanese Textbooks That Passed the Screening

Lee Jaeseok stated that Japanese history textbooks contained many of the same distortions: The territory of the Four Commanderies of Han (漢四郡) was exaggerated; ancient Korea-Japan relations were described from the perspective of the Imna Command Post theory (任那日本府說); and there were many Joseon nationals in Japanese pirate (倭寇).

In addition, he pointed out that the expression that "Japanese Residency-General of Korea (統監府), a predecessor of the Japanese Government-General of Korea (朝鮮總督府), played a leading role in modernizing Korea" was added to the new textbooks, and the paragraphs about Japanese troops' war atrocities and "comfort women" were eliminated. He said that these are changes for the worse. Nam Sanggu pointed out that Japan's unfair sovereignty claims increased in the new textbooks, including expressions such as "illegal occupation" or "Japanese territory". He also argued that description about Dokdo can worsen to the level of the South Kuril Islands (or Northern Territories). Shim Jeongbo provided analysis on "Dokdo education" for social studies classes in elementary and middle schools in Shimane Prefecture, and predicted that "Dokdo education" will be strengthened in social studies education in Japan. The Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform argues that it would publish a new auxiliary textbook about territorial issues including Dokdo. Such move is quite worrisome, considering that "Dokdo education" in Shimane Prefecture made Japanese people think Dokdo is their territory. Professor Seo Taeyeol stated that Korean textbooks have had detailed descriptions about Dokdo since 1947, while Japanese middle school textbooks have had them since 1981. In addition, he argued that Dokdo education in Korea should be considered in a broader perspective of peace in East Asia, claiming that more in-depth and comprehensive education needs to be implemented.

In panel discussion session, panelists presented various ways to fight against Japan's sovereignty claims over Dokdo. Peter Beck pointed out that Japan continues to make sovereignty claims due to the South Kuril Islands (or Northern Territories) issue, although it knows that Dokdo cannot be its territory. According to him, such behavior could further isolate Japan in the international community. In addition, he advised that Korea should address this issue with confidence as the "owner" of Dokdo, instead of being disturbed by every single claim made by Japan. Professor Hosaka Yuji stated that we should gather correct documents and develop logic to rebut Japan's claims, and post them on a Web site so that the public can easily access them. With regard to ensuring effective rule of Dokdo, Professor Shin Jubaek pointed out that the government's countermeasures are only focused on Dokdo, and thus have limitations in terms of history and the environment. He stated that we should shift our focus to Ulleungdo first, and then embrace Dokdo in relation to Ulleungdo. Lee Hun, Director of the Dokdo Research Institues, explained the measures to strengthen Dokdo education, pursued by the Korean government and the Foundation.

Teaching Young Koreans to Rebut Japan's Claims with Objective Logic

It is highly likely that the issue of sovereignty claims over Dokdo in Japanese textbooks will be repeated every year, considering that they are written in accordance with the Curriculum Guidelines and the Commentary. The screenings for Japanese textbooks are scheduled in 2012 and 2013(high school), 2014 (elementary school), and in 2015 (middle school). It is clear that Korea holds sovereignty over Dokdo in terms of history, international law and geography, regardless of Japan's unfair claims over Dokdo in their textbooks. However, Japan infringed on Korea's territorial sovereignty over Dokdo, and it is a stumbling block to peace and prosperity in East Asia. As such, we need to take a firm stance in addressing this issue. In fighting against distortions about Dokdo in Japanese textbooks, our first step should be teaching young Korean students to effectively refute Japan's claims with objective and logical evidence.