뉴스레터

NAHF held an expert seminar on March 31 with the Asian Peace and History Education Network. In this seminar, the results of analysis on the details of the education policy of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology-JAPAN, the description of the Japanese high school history textbook, the description of Dokdo in the Japanese high school textbook, and the description of the sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army were announced.

Nam Sang-gu, director of NAHF Office of Research and Policy-Planning, said in a greeting: "In the social studies textbooks that Japanese high school students will use from 2022, the description of Japan's mistakes during the imperialism has been greatly reduced. This is because the reflection on colonial rule has disappeared or weakened. It is hard to find the history of invading neighboring countries as well as the contents related to the forced mobilization of the sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army. And it included the claim that Dokdo is Japan's territory, and the description that Korea is illegally occupying the land. This is a work that glorifies the mistakes of the Japanese imperialism as a phenomenon that appears in the modernization process."

Seo Jong-jin, director of the NAHF Institute on Korea-Japan Historical Issues, presented the current status and characteristics of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's approval of textbooks in 2021. Han Hye-in, a Research Fellow at the Asian Peace and History Education Network, presented the problems of descriptions in Japanese high school history textbooks. Hong Sung-geun, a Research Fellow of NAHF Dokdo Research Institute, analyzed the description of Dokdo in Japanese high school textbooks. Meanwhile, Seo Hyun-joo, a Research Fellow of NAHF Institute on Korea-Japan Historical Issues, analyzed the description of the sexual slavery victims for the Japanese imperial army in Japanese high school textbooks that approved in 2021. And Lee Shin-cheol, director of the Asian Peace and History Education Network and Hong Jong-wook, professor of the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies at Seoul National University participated in the comprehensive discussion.

In addition, there were times to explain 12 historical materials such as Japanese geography textbooks at the end of the 19th century collected and donated by Lee Hyun, Cheolwon Elementary School. There was no Dokdo in Japanese territory in 『Middle School - Geography of Japan』(1897), 『Japanese Geography Map』(1897), and 『Elementary School Geography (2)』(1904) issued by the Japanese Ministry of Education. In addition, there is no Dokdo in 『The latest precise map of Japan』 published by the Yomiuri Shimbun in January 1952, after the signing of the Treaty of San Francisco. The materials donated by Lee Hyun will be useful for research on Dokdo and geography.