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FM AMEMBASSY SEOUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4215
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5805
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 9667
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 5898
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG PRIORITY 4328
RHMFISS/COMUSKOREA J5 SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RUACAAA/COMUSKOREA INTEL SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSFK SEOUL KOR PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SEOUL 000708 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KS KN
SUBJECT: REVISING HISTORY: NEW ROK HISTORY TEXTBOOK 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Starting from this spring, South Korean 
high school students will learn their history from a revised 
text of their familiar "A Modern and Contemporary History of 
Korea."  The movement to revise the history text kicked off 
soon after the inauguration of President Lee Myung-bak, 
spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and 
Technology (MEST) in its official request to six publishing 
companies.  Amid noisy political debate, changes were made 
late last year, in time for the March 2009 start of the 
school year.  The new textbooks feature a cumulative total of 
206 revised passages, many now aligned with more moderate, 
center-right historical views.  The Allied victory over Japan 
is no longer characterized as having been an "obstacle" to 
Korean unification, for example, and a reference to the U.S. 
Army as an "occupying force" has been removed.  North Korea 
is portrayed less sympathetically than before, with blame for 
the DPRK's anemic economy and strained inter-peninsular and 
international relations placed squarely on Pyongyang's 
economic policies and weapons programs.  National Assembly 
opposition lawmakers, textbook authors, and history scholars 
have criticized the revisions process as motivated by 
politics rather than based on scholarship, guaranteeing that 
this is not the last revision, just another chapter in the 
continuing saga that is Korea history.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) All Korean schools rely on government approved 
textbooks, which is why the textbooks -- especially those for 
history classes -- are mired in the politics and "political 
correctness" of the day.  In 2003, under the Roh Moo-hyun 
Administration, the ROK Ministry of Education expanded the 
number of approved publishers of the high school textbook, 
"A Modern and Contemporary History of Korea," from one to 
six.  Enabling schools to choose from several versions of the 
text, the move was ostensibly designed to promote diversity 
in historical views.  The new textbooks immediately drew 
criticism from conservatives, however, and became a 
flashpoint in the larger Korean debate over how to appraise 
past leaders such as Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee and the 
history of Korea's relationship with the United States. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Conservatives argued that the textbooks were biased 
toward a leftist view of Korean history, over-emphasizing its 
darker chapters, such as collaboration with Japanese 
colonialists, and exaggerating the nationalist elements of 
North Korea.   The texts inspired a "masochistic" view of the 
ROK, belittled the role of the Allied forces in Korea's 
liberation from Japan, ascribed imperialist motives to U.S. 
involvement on the Korean Peninsula, and dwelled on the 
faults of South Korean dictators while slighting their 
achievements, according to South Korean conservatives.  An 
influential group of critics, the Textbook Forum, went so far 
as to argue that the textbooks were teaching a patricidal 
history, encouraging the view that the ROK as a country 
should never have existed. 
 
--------- 
Enter LMB 
--------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) President Lee Myung-bak's inauguration in February 
2008 meant that the conservative critics were now in charge. 
  Following then-Education Minister Kim Doh-yeon's critical 
remarks about the "left-leaning" texts in May 2008, Prime 
Minister Han Seung-soo called for implementation of a 
revision process with input from ROKG agencies other than the 
Education Ministry.  In response, the Ministry of National 
Defense (MND) recommended that a depiction of the first ROK 
president Syngman Rhee as one who "ruthlessly suppressed 
dissent in the name of anti-Communism and exploited the North 
Korean threat to shore up his dictatorial regime" be replaced 
with "a president who contributed to the nation's 
modernization."  The Ministry of Unification (MOU) supported 
the removal of language characterizing Kim Dae-jung's ascent 
to the presidency as an ousting of the conservative 
establishment and the installing of former dissidents to 
positions of power; this would be replaced by a portrayal 
emphasizing reconciliation and cooperation under Kim Dae-jung. 
 
¶5. (SBU) It was thus with full support from President Lee's 
conservative constituents as well as certain quarters of the 
ROKG itself that -- following testy National Assembly 
discussions on the topic in October 2008 -- MEST requested 
the six publishers -- Kumsung Publishing, Doosan, Bubmunsa, 
Joongang Institute for Better Education, Chunjae Education, 
and Daehan -- make revisions to their respective versions of 
"A Modern and Contemporary History of Korea."  The MEST 
revisions committee directed the publishers i to revise a 
cumulative total of 53 passages in four of the six textbook 
versions.  Additional revisions initiated by the publishing 
companies followed, as did another set of directions from the 
committee in November.  In the end, the total number of 
revisions in all six texts grew to 206.  Of these, the 
publishers initiated 102 and the revisions committee 
recommended 104.  Of the 104 recommended by the committee, 47 
were directed at a single publisher, Kumsung. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Allied Victory: Not so Bad for Reunification 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) Publication of the revised textbooks for the new 
school year beginning in March 2009 revealed changes of 
emphasis more in line with a moderate, center-right view. 
Whereas before the Kumsung text had portrayed the role of the 
Allied victory over Japan and the subsequent liberation of 
Korea as an "obstacle" to the building of the kind of new 
nation "desired by our people," its new language attributes 
the inability of Koreans of that period to "take the 
initiative in building a unified nation" to the "failure to 
defeat the Japanese on our own."  Doosan likewise removed 
from its text language characterizing the Allied victory as 
the "reason" liberation "did not directly result in the 
establishment of a unified independent state for our people." 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The shift rightward is also in evidence in accounts 
of the post-Korean War period.  Armed guerilla forces that 
hid in the Jiri Mountains, for example, are no longer called 
"pro-North Korea" by Kumsung; they are "leftist."  While the 
Kumsung text acknowledges that some U.S. agricultural 
assistance was diverted to fund political activity under the 
Syngman Rhee government, it no longer implies that Rhee 
deliberately imported excess U.S. aid for such purposes.  The 
Daehan text, previously faulting the Chang Myeon 
administration for not making "active efforts to engage in 
dialogue with the North" in support of a UN-monitored 
North-South general election, now neutrally states "dialogue 
with the North did not take place." 
 
------------------------------------ 
U.S. Army an Occupying Force No More 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (SBU) New neutral language extends to descriptions of past 
U.S. involvement in Korea, too.  A caption beneath a photo in 
the Kumsung text of participants in a U.S.-USSR Joint 
Commission on Korea meeting at Deoksugung Palace in Seoul 
identified Lieutenant General John R. Hodge as "commander of 
the U.S. occupying forces" before; now he is simply a 
"Commission member." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
North Korea an Object neither of Sympathy nor Admiration 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Removed from the new texts or significantly altered 
are a number of descriptions and features that cast the North 
Korean regime in a somewhat sympathetic light.  A photo of 
Kim Il Sung was deleted from the Doosan text, for example. 
Post-June 15, 2000 Inter-Korean Summit family reunion data 
was also scrubbed from the Kumsung text.  Doosan descriptions 
of the North-South family reunions were replaced with 
language on the activities of South Korean companies in the 
Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC), President Roh Moo-hyun's 
October 2007 meeting with "National Defense Commission (NDC) 
Chairman Kim Jong Il" in Pyongyang, and President Lee's new 
North Korea policy.  Previous Chunjae Education wording 
suggesting that North Korea had maintained cultural 
traditions more faithfully than the South has been modified 
to emphasize the closed nature of North Korean society.  A 
humanizing, if fictional, portrayal of a North Korean student 
in the Kumsung text was replaced with a factual description 
of limited options open to North Korean youths upon 
completion of compulsory schooling.  A sentence linking the 
lots of both North and South Korea ("At present, South and 
North Korea face many military threats ... foreign 
interference is likely.") was removed from the Joongang text. 
 
¶10. (SBU) New language also shifts emphasis from North 
Korea's humanitarian tragedies to the failed economic 
policies that caused them.  A new sentence added to the 
Bubmunsa text, for example, states that despite the 
introduction of new measures to boost economic activity in 
2002, "North Korea's economic situation is presently getting 
worse."  "The North Korean economy, even of late, has not 
seen any growth," affirms Doosan.  Elsewhere, the Kumsung 
text notes that the Tumen River Area Development Program 
"has, in effect, been suspended due to lack of investment." 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
DPRK to Blame for Nuclear Tensions, Isolation 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) In contrast to previous texts' references to 
"suspicions raised in the international community" about 
North Korea's nuclear weapons development, the new textbooks 
describe the existence of DPRK nuclear and missile programs 
in unambiguous terms, placing responsibility for North 
Korea's strained inter-peninsular and international relations 
squarely on Pyongyang.  Before, the Doosan text noted 
"suspicions" about North Korean WMD programs; now it states 
matter-of-factly that "North Korea is developing weapons of 
mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons, 
and is thus threatening the stability of the Korean Peninsula 
and international peace."  A new sentence added to the 
Kumsung text states: "By announcing its withdrawal from the 
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and unilaterally 
announcing its possession of nuclear weapons, North Korea 
raised insecurity and tension on the Korean Peninsula and in 
the international community."  Both the Bubmunsa and Doosan 
textbooks now attribute lack of improvement in U.S.-North 
Korea relations to North Korean nuclear weapons development, 
rather than mere "suspicions" about the DPRK program. 
Furthermore, Doosan language suggesting normalization of 
North Korea's relations with the U.S. and Japan would pave 
the way to peace and reunification has been replaced with a 
description of the Six-Party Talks as an effort "to resolve 
the North Korea nuclear issue."  On past North-South 
tensions, the new Chunjae text states, "North Korea's 
terrorist actions had fatal effects on inter-Korean 
relations." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
Resistance from National Assembly Opposition, Textbook Authors 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) Implementation of textbook revision has not 
occurred without controversy.  The issue was the subject of 
heated discussion during a National Assembly audit in October 
2008, with opposition Democratic Party members arguing the 
changes were driven by political motives rather than 
scholarship.  One publisher (Kumsung) complained of undue 
pressure from MEST and initially balked at making some of the 
Ministry-requested revisions, though it later backed down. 
Holding out the longest were textbook authors, with support 
from history teachers and scholars.  The authors of five of 
the six publishers' textbooks (all but Doosan's) issued a 
joint statement in December 2008 asserting that "having a 
publisher unilaterally change the contents of a book that 
will have the name of the author printed on it ... violates 
copyright law and undermines the author's honor."  In 
response to one of numerous legal actions taken by the 
authors in an attempt to block publication of the new texts, 
the Seoul Central District Court noted in January that both 
the publishers and authors had "agreed to sincerely fulfill 
the orders of the Education Minister when they applied for 
government approval of the textbooks."  The right-leaning 
Korea Economic Daily noted that the textbook changes were 
implemented in response to revisions that took place under 
previous progressive administrations, including, for example, 
accounts of democracy movement events in the 1980's; 
progressive critics and academics lamented the politicization 
of the issue. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
¶13.  (SBU) Of course, this is not the final word, because 
nobody ever has the final word on what happened in history, 
especially in Korea.  This round the conservatives have won 
because one of their own is in the Blue House.  One 
beneficiary of the latest revisions is the United States. 
The characterization of the U.S. is less calculating and less 
"imperial" than before.  Undoubtedly, however, all of this 
will be revised again when the political winds next shift. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Selected Textbook Passage Revisions 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (U) The previous and revised text of selected passages 
from the six publishers' respective versions of "A Modern and 
Contemporary History of Korea" follows: 
 
Kumsung 
 
Previous:  The fact that our independence was achieved by 
means of the Allied victory proved to be an obstacle to 
building a new state that was desired by our people. 
 
Revised:  The failure to defeat the Japanese on our own was 
the cause for why we could not take the initiative in 
building a unified nation-state. 
 
 
Previous:  As a result, there was almost no punishment of 
those who had collaborated with the Japanese, and efforts to 
start a new country that was founded on the national spirit 
were wasted. 
 
Revised:  As a result, efforts to reestablish the national 
spirit by punishing those who had collaborated with the 
Japanese ended without any results. 
 
 
Previous:  Throughout South Korea, including the Jiri 
Mountains, the activities of pro-North Korea armed guerilla 
forces continued. 
 
Revised:  Throughout South Korea, including the Jiri 
Mountains, the activities of leftist armed guerilla forces 
continued. 
 
 
Previous: 
Hopes of North Korean Youth 
Character 4:  "I am a student studying in the honors class at 
a middle school in Hamheung.  I want to enter Kim Il Sung 
University and become a party or government official." 
 
Revised:  Deleted Character 4.  Instead added the following 
explanation: 
 
After graduating from middle school, students in North Korea 
follow one of the three career paths: entering a university, 
enlisting in the military or receiving a workplace 
assignment.  Most students enlist in the military or get 
assigned a job, and only 10 percent of students enter the 
university right after graduating.  There are some students 
who enter the university with recommendations from their 
workplaces or the military.  Workplaces are assigned 
irrespective of the student's wishes. 
 
 
Previous:  In the early 1990s, suspicions were raised in the 
international community that North Korea, which had been 
burdened by huge military costs, was developing nuclear 
weapons. 
 
Revised:  Added supplementary paragraph: 
 
North Korea's Development of Nuclear Weapons:  By announcing 
its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 
(NPT) and unilaterally announcing its possession of nuclear 
weapons, North Korea raised insecurity and tensions on the 
Korean Peninsula and in the international community. 
 
 
Previous:  In order to supplement a deficient budget and 
secure political funds, the Syngman Rhee government imported 
more U.S. agricultural aid than was actually needed. 
Revised:  In order to supplement a deficient budget, the 
Syngman Rhee government imported U.S. agricultural aid, some 
of which was used as political funds. 
 
 
Previous:  As part of the Tumen River Area Development 
Program (TRADP), North Korea designated the Rajin-Sonbong 
area as a special economic trade zone.  The Tumen River Area 
Development Program (TRADP) was a large-scale development 
project that aimed to connect Chungjin (North Korea), Yangji 
and Hunchun (China), and Vladivostok (Russia), and included 
the participation of related countries (North Korea, China 
and Russia) and neighboring countries. 
 
Revised:  North Korea designated the Rajin-Sonbong area as a 
special economic trade zone in 1991 as part of the Tumen 
River Area Development Program (TRADP), which it was pursuing 
with China and Russia.  The plan was to construct this area 
as a center for international trade, finance and tourism 
between 1993 and 2010.  As of 2008, however, the project has, 
in effect, been suspended due to the lack of investment. 
 
 
Deleted:  Family reunion data. 
 
 
Previous:  U.S. economic aid to South Korea had the purpose 
of making South Korea a bulwark against communism. 
 
Revised:  The important purpose of U.S. economic aid was to 
make South Korea a bulwark against communism. 
 
 
Caption for photo of participants talking before a U.S.-USSR 
Joint Commission on Korea meeting at Deoksugung Palace: 
 
Previous:  "Commander of the U.S. occupying forces Lieutenant 
General Hodge" 
 
Revised:  "U.S. Commission member Lieutenant General Hodge" 
 
 
Doosan 
 
Previous:  On August 15, 1945, as a result of the continuous 
struggle for independence, our people were finally able to 
come out from Japan's colonial rule and achieve independence. 
 The August 15 Liberation, however, had also been achieved 
through the Allied victory in World War II and Japan's 
subsequent defeat.  For this reason, the August 15 Liberation 
did not directly result in the establishment of a unified 
independent state for our people. 
 
Revised:  With the Allied victory in World War II, our people 
achieved independence on August 15, 1945.  The August 15 
Liberation was also the result of our people's continuous 
struggle for independence.  The August 15 Liberation, 
however, did not directly result in the establishment of a 
unified independent state for our people. 
 
 
Previous:  There were even suspicions that North Korea was 
developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including 
nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. 
 
Revised:  In addition, North Korea is developing weapons of 
mass destruction (WMD), including biological and chemical 
weapons, and is thus threatening the stability of the Korean 
Peninsula and international peace. 
 
 
Previous:  The food shortage in North Korea is serious and 
still persists despite humanitarian aid to the country from 
international organizations during the past three years. 
Furthermore, the North Korean economy has not seen any growth 
for the past ten years and economic difficulties persist. 
 
Revised:  The food shortage in North Korea is serious and 
still persists despite humanitarian aid to the country from 
international organizations since 1995.  Furthermore, the 
North Korean economy, even of late, has not seen any growth 
and economic difficulties persist. 
 
Previous:  One hundred separated family members that had 
participated in past reunion events were selected 
respectively from each side and took part in another round of 
reunions in Seoul and Pyongyang.  In December, the North and 
South had also selected one hundred separated family members 
from each side for another round of reunions for families 
that had participated in past reunion events. 
 
Revised:  Recently, some South Korean companies have moved 
into the Kaesong Industrial Complex (KIC) -- which North 
Korea had established as a special economic zone )- and are 
carrying out their production activities inside the complex. 
In October 2007, President Roh Moo-hyun visited Pyongyang to 
meet with National Defense Commission (NDC) Chairman Kim Jong 
Il for the October 4 summit.  The Lee Myung-bak 
administration, which came into office in 2008, announced 
that it would pursue a policy of "Mutual Benefits and Common 
Prosperity" with North Korea. 
 
 
Previous:  Although North Korea and the U.S. are looking for 
ways to improve relations, there has been poor progress due 
to suspicions about North Korea's development of nuclear 
weapons and the missile launch issue.  Negotiations on 
normalizing relations between North Korea and Japan have also 
made no progress and the talks have been slow.  If in the 
future North Korea normalizes and improves its relations with 
the U.S. and Japan, this will help establish peace on the 
Korean Peninsula and form the basis for reunification. 
 
Revised:  Although North Korea and the U.S. are looking for 
ways to improve relations, there has been poor progress due 
to North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and the 
missile launch issue.  Efforts to resolve the North Korea 
nuclear issue are being made at the Six Party Talks (South 
Korea, North Korea, U.S., China, Japan, Russia), which 
started in 2003 with the mediation of China.  Recently, there 
have been indications of improvement in North Korea-U.S. 
relations with the North declaring its nuclear activities and 
destroying the cooling tower at the reactor in Yongbyon. 
 
 
Deleted:  Photo of Kim Il-sung, p. 275. 
 
 
Daehan 
 
Previous:  The first difficulty that North Korean defectors 
experience after resettling in South Korea is... 
 
Revised:  The first difficulty that defecting North Korean 
residents experience after resettling in South Korea is... 
 
 
Previous:  Although the Chang Myeon administration had put 
forth the policy of unifying the two Koreas by carrying out 
United Nations-monitored South-North general elections, it 
did not make active efforts to engage in dialogue with the 
North. 
 
Revised:  Although the Chang Myeon administration had put 
forth the policy of unifying the two Koreas by carrying out 
United Nations-monitored South-North general elections, 
dialogue with the North did not take place. 
 
 
Chunjae 
 
Previous:  Therefore, although North Korea has been 
relatively better than South Korea at preserving traditional 
culture, it has not been able to adopt culture and 
civilization from the developed world. 
 
Revised:  Therefore, although it may appear that North Korea 
has been relatively better than South Korea at preserving 
traditional culture because it is not as open as South Korea, 
it has not been able to adopt culture and civilization from 
the developed advanced world. 
 
 
Previous:  Inter-Korean relations... had acted as a driving 
force. 
Revised:  North Korea's terrorist actions had fatal effects 
on inter-Korean relations. 
 
 
Previous:  Inter-Korean relations cooled down again with the 
sudden death of Kim Il Sung. 
 
Revised:  Inter-Korean relations cooled down again when the 
inter-Korean summit was cancelled due to the sudden death of 
Kim Il Sung. 
 
 
Joongang 
 
Deleted:  At present, South and North Korea face many 
military threats... foreign interference is likely. 
 
 
Bubmunsa 
 
New addition:  Afterwards, the North Korean government made 
efforts to overcome the serious economic situation through 
its July 1 economic measures in 2002.  Despite these efforts, 
however, North Korea's economic situation is presently 
getting worse. 
 
 
Previous:  North Korea-U.S. relations, however, have not seen 
much progress due to suspicions about North Korea's 
development of nuclear weapons and the missile development 
issue.  There has been no significant progress in 
negotiations to normalize relations between North Korea and 
Japan. 
 
Revised:  North Korea-U.S. relations, however, have not seen 
much progress due to North Korea's development of nuclear 
weapons and the missile development issue.  There has been no 
significant progress in negotiations to normalize relations 
between North Korea and Japan. 
 
STANTON