Newsletter

‘World Action Day’ which was conducted to correct Japanese textbooks in 125 cities in 73 countries. 

Citizens of Korea and Japan protesting in front of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (2001. 6. 12.)

The boycott of Japanese products

One of the biggest events that symbolizes recent relations between Korea and Japan is the boycott of Japanese products in Korea. There were slogans all over the streets of Korea saying, "I do not buy Japanese products and services; I do not travel to Japan." About 20 years ago, the same situation was happening. At that time, Korea boycotted products from Japanese companies sponsoring ‘Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform(新しい歴史教科書をつくる会)’. ‘Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform’ criticized Japan's existing view of the history as self-tormenting historical view. And they advocated the 'Liberalist View of History' and distorted history by writing textbooks. Citizens of Korea and Japan held a press conference to inform the seriousness of distorting history and visited the Japanese Embassy in protest. They held a rally to prevent the retrogressive revision of Japanese history textbooks, a non-adoption movement of textbooks written by ‘Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform’. As a result, the ‘Headquarters of Correcting Japanese Textbooks’(hereinafter referred to as ‘Headquarters’), which was participated by 86 organizations, was established on April 23. That year, the Fusosha textbook was adopted only 0.039%(a total of 521 volumes) due to the movement jointly organized by the citizens of Korea and Japan.

『History of Opening the Future』, 『Modern and Contemporary History of East Asia: 

written by Korea, China and Japan』 Korean version·Chinese version·Japanese version·English version

New Goals, Towards a Common Historical Perception in East Asia

The Korean, Chinese, and Japanese civic groups, including ‘Headquarters’, did not end their activities in stopping the distortion of history in Japanese textbooks. Civic groups agreed that East Asia should have a common historical awareness. So, 'Headquaters' was renamed 'Asia Peace & History Education Network'(hereinafter referred to as ‘Network’) in 2003 with the aim of universal Asian civic solidarity. And ‘Network’ started various activities to create a common historical awareness in Asia.

Korean, Chinese, Japanese scholars, teachers, and citizens gathered together to discuss ways to create a common historical awareness in East Asia and how to share it with students. The starting point was the Forum on Historical Awareness and Peace in East Asia(hereinafter referred to as ‘forum’) held in Nanjing, China in March 2002. The ‘forum’ decided to seek practical alternatives and compile auxiliary textbooks for East Asian history education. Therefore, the Korean, Chinese, and Japanese civic groups gathered their intention for a common historical awareness for the future. As a result, the ‘forum’ published the textbook 『History of Opening the Future』, which is used by schools in Korea, China and Japan(2005). The second textbook 『Modern and Contemporary History of East Asia: written by Korea, China and Japan(1·2)』 was published(2012) and the third textbook will be published in 2022.

To build peace in East Asia, we must communicate and sympathize with future generations. To do so, the History Camp for East Asian Youth was first launched in Seoul in 2002. At first, it started only with Korean and Japanese youths, and since 2004, Chinese youths have also participated. At this camp, teachers and students selected historical topics that Korea, China and Japan can share and explored the scene of history. And they invited experts to take special lectures, and teachers from the three countries taught students together. Students have deeply understood each other's culture by comparing their own and other countries' historical knowledge. They overcame language barriers and moved toward the future of peace in East Asia.

In this situation, many of the recently published high school textbooks 『Korean History』 and 『East Asian History』 emphasize peace in East Asia and introduce the ‘Network’. Auxiliary textbooks for history education in Korea·China·Japan and History Camp for East Asian Youth have become important activities for peace in East Asia.

Activity of Asia Peace & History Education Network introduced in Textbooks

 (『Korean History』, Dong-A Publishing, 2020)    

The distortion of history in Japanese textbooks is not over

It has been twenty years since ‘Network’ began its activities. However, the relationship between Korea and Japan is still not peaceful. Almost all countries aim for open education to nurture global citizens. However, countries still recognize themselves as the center. In March, the Japanese government completed the official approving of textbooks including 『Rekishi-sogo(2022~)』 which is a required subject for high school students. The level of data and formats in textbooks that passed authorization was high. But it was described from the standpoint of the imperialist. In the new textbook, the claim of sovereignty over Dokdo was strengthened according to the guidelines of the Japanese government, and the description related to ‘Sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army’ was regressed. This shows that unresolved tasks related to historical awareness remain between Korea and Japan. The journey toward peace in East Asia is far and rough. But ‘Network’ is preparing to take another step. We believe that the wisdom, passion and solidarity of East Asian citizens will shorten the time to achieve peace in East Asia.