뉴스레터

On March 27, 2012, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology announced the 2011 high school textbook authorization results. A total of 39 social studies textbooks have been authorized, and 21 of them described Japan's unjustified sovereignty claim over Dokdo. Not that the description itself of the claim that "Dokdo is a Japanese territory" in the Japanese textbooks is anything new; the description that Dokdo is a Japanese territory was already included in all of the middle school geography and social studies textbooks of Japan authorized last year, and the official position of the Japanese government on Dokdo is also that 'Dokdo is an inherent territory of Japan but illegally occupied by Korea.' But what is noteworthy in the recently authorized Japanese textbooks is the increasing emphasis on the claim that Dokdo is 'an inherent territory of Japan.' The number of authorized high school textbooks that included such claim increased from 2 to 9. The same number for the middle school textbooks authorized in 2011 had also increased from 2 to 8.
It is necessary for the Korean government to take a determined step against its Japanese counterpart's authorization of the textbooks that described their unjustified sovereignty claim over Dokdo. At the same time, it is also necessary to criticize the Dokdo description in the Japanese textbooks from an academic point of view. To this end, the NAHF held a press conference on old Japanese maps and an urgent academic conference on March 28, 2012, the day after the Japanese textbook authorization results were announced.

An Old Japanese Map from 120 Years Earlier Colors Dokdo the Same Color as Joseon

An Old Japanese Map from 120 Years Earlier Colors Dokdo the Same Color as Joseon First, at the press conference, old Japanese maps were presented to show that the claim 'Dokdo is an inherent territory of Japan' was not consistent with historical facts. Since its opening in August 2008, the Dokdo Research Institute under the NAHF has been collecting old maps related to Dokdo and East Sea. The old Japanese maps made between the late 18th and the early 20th centuries either colored Dokdo the same color as Joseon or depicted Dokdo as an island irrelevant to Japan, a clear indication that Japan did not regard Dokdo as their territory at that time. A number of old Japanese maps have been already made public to show how they regard Dokdo, and the importance of this issue has been pointed out by the 'Truth of Dokdo' website (www.truthofdokdo.com) opened jointly by singer Kim Jang-hoon and Sejong University Professor Hosaka Yuji. It is ironic that the old maps made in Japan are telling us that Japan was not regarding Dokdo as their territory as recent as 120 years ago.

A Review of the 2012 Japanese High School Textbook Authorization Results

The press conference on old Japanese maps was followed by the academic conference on "Review the 2012 Japanese High School Textbook Authorization Results" that was urgently convened to analyze the significance and challenges of the Japanese high school textbook authorization results and to seek solutions. The summary of this conference is as follows. NAHF researcher Seo Jong-jin, keeping in sight the Framework Act on Education revised (2006) in the direction of stressing patriotism, reviewed the Korea-related descriptions found in the authorized history textbooks in the relationship with the teaching guidelines and their handbooks. In particular, in his review of the Korea-related descriptions found in the Japanese History B textbook by Meiseisha (明成社), Seo pointed out that some contents of the textbooks submitted for authorization had been 'improved' in the authorization process. Next, I gave a speech on the significance of the Dokdo descriptions in the textbooks authorized this year, based on a review of the trend of the Dokdo descriptions in the Japanese textbooks since Japan's defeat in WWII in 1945. I pointed out the recent trend of highlighting the 'inherent territory' claim in the Japanese textbooks and stressed the need to persuade the authors of the Japanese textbooks as well as to criticize the textbooks from an academic point of view. Meanwhile, NAHF researcher Seo Hyun-joo analyzed changes in the descriptions of sexual slavery by Japan in the Japanese textbooks, pointing out that while the main point of the descriptions was that the victims of sexual slavery had been mobilized as 'comfort women,' there was no clear description of who were responsible for mobilizing 'comfort women' and establishing and operating the 'comfort women camp' and the responsibility of the Japanese government and military. Researcher Kim Young-soo, keeping in sight the changes in the curriculum of Korean education, summarized the Dokdo descriptions in the Korean high school textbooks published this year and presented the direction of constructive development in Dokdo education.
The speeches were followed by a total discussion moderated by NAHF researcher Lee Myung-chan and participated by all of the speakers. In the total discussion, it was argued that the issues of the Dokdo description and of the distortion of history were separate matters, and they should be treated with overall Korea-Japan relations as well as the domestic political situations in Japan, and the increasing conflict between Japan and China over the Senkaku Islands taken into consideration. Peter Beck, given that it would never be possible for Japan to take Dokdo away from Korea, asserted that Korea and Japan might need to be more calm and practical in dealing with the Dokdo issue. As for the schedule of Japanese textbook authorization, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will start receiving application for authorization of high school social studies textbooks from April this year and announce the results at the end of March next year. I think that the key to resolving the Japanese textbook issue may lie in the Japanese government's claim that descriptions in the textbooks are reflective not of the government's arguments but of the results of academic research.