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Education, Science and Technology Minister Ahn Byong-man on Monday said no school textbooks should carry content that undermines the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea. His comment came amid controversy over government attempts to purge modern history textbooks of what it regards as leftwing bias.
He made the remarks during a parliamentary audit of the ministry. "We are going to make corrections if parts of the content of modern and contemporary textbooks are deemed to be undermining the republic¡¯s legitimacy,¡± he said.
When Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Young-jin asked if Ahn believed textbooks to have a leftwing bias, the minister said he was ¡°looking at them from the standpoint of whether parts of them undermine the republic¡¯s legitimacy, rather than whether they lean toward the Left or the Right.¡± He pledged to ensure that an ongoing revision ¡°proceeds fairly."
There were 279 requests for corrections in six kinds of modern and contemporary textbooks by government agencies including the Defense Ministry, Ahn said. Completely new history textbooks will be published in 2011, he said, ¡°but the wrong parts in the current textbooks should be corrected. When compiling new history textbooks, we'll make sure that an authentic modern and contemporary history of the republic is compiled in the textbooks."
He said before some revised textbooks are used for students in the first semester next year, the ministry would ensure that new teaching materials worked out by a committee are used. "Textbooks will not be revised completely based on these teaching materials,¡± he said. ¡°But those materials could serve as a criterion for future corrections.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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