ed Korean history should become compulsory subject

By Lee Chang-sup

A recent episode of an SBS prime-time news program showed a significant percentage of students are ignorant of Korean history. According to the episode, less than 10 percent of the 121 students surveyed answered all four to five questions on modern Korean history correctly. Almost 70 percent or 84 students, could not answer any questions correctly.

This alarming revelation came from a survey the news program held last week. Middle school, high school and college students, as well as 30-somethings on the street, were asked basic questions on Korean history.

One student said the March 1, 1919, Independence Movement took place because North Korean communists attacked South Korea. Another student said Seodaemun Prison in central Seoul was where criminals today were jailed. In fact, the prison is now a history museum. It has become a symbol of Koreans’ resistance against Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) because many pro-independence fighters were jailed, tortured and killed there without trial or due process. Several hundred people were murdered in extrajudicial killings in the death house at the rear. Yu Gwan-soon (1904-1920), a female Christian student fighter during the March 1 Independence Movement, was tortured and killed there.

Another student could not describe the Yasukuni Shrine. As is well known, Japan’s Emperor Meiji created the shrine in Tokyo in 1869 as a memorial to Japanese war criminals. These criminals now include those from World War II. The Korean government has repeatedly criticized Japanese leaders for paying respect to these war criminals, who forced Koreans to live under colonial repression.

Another adolescent incorrectly described the shrine as a place where Koreans made three deep bows daily in honor of the Japanese emperor. The answer was based on the fact that his grandparents had been forced to bow toward the shrine each day during the Japanese colonial period.

In addition, many of the students surveyed remember recent presidents Park Chung-hee, Chun Doo-hwan and Kim Dae-jung, but do not remember the first president, Syngman Rhee.

In a similar Ministry of Security and Public Administration survey last year, six in 10 students did not know the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950.

Today’s youth lack knowledge of Korean history because it is not a priority at school. History is a compulsory subject in class, but optional for college tests. Unsurprisingly, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, there are three times as many underachievers in history as in the Korean language, mathematics and English, three core compulsory subjects for middle school and high school students.

Students also have few incentives to learn Korean history because it has been optional in the state-run college scholastic aptitude test since 2009.The government made this decision in an attempt to lessen students’ academic burden. Consequently, according to Rep. Kim Tae-won of the governing Saenuri Party, only 6.1 percent of high school seniors chose national history in the college entrance test last year, down from 27.7 percent in 2005. He predicted the trend would be irreversible unless the government reintroduced history as a required subject in college entrance tests.

This is in sharp contrast to the 1950s and 1980s when history was mandatory not only for college entrance tests but also for tests for students seeking to study overseas. Senior Koreans studied history from elementary school till middle school. Thanks to this policy, most adults in their 50s and above are quite knowledgeable on key historical facts.

Students also lack knowledge of Korean history because of how the subject is taught. Many students find the subject boring and tedious, especially because studying history involves memorizing years, names and summaries of events. Many history teachers reportedly turn a blind eye when students study other subjects during a class.

Korea may be only one of few countries where history is not a priority school subject. This has significant consequences in our fight against historical distortion. According to Rep. Kim, unless the government strengthens history education, the future generation will not be able to address historical distortions neighboring countries, including Japan and China made.

Japan, for example, has included South Korea’s Dokdo Islets as part of its territory. At the Yasukuni Shrine, it has also glorified as patriots the war criminals who repressed Koreans.

Similarly, China has rewritten history to regard ancient Korea, now part of China, as part of the Middle Kingdom. In 2004, Seoul and Beijing were embroiled in an unprecedented diplomatic dispute because the former claimed ancient Korean kingdoms such as Gojoseon, Goguryeo and Balhae as part of its territory. Further, China, in its so-called Northeast Project, misused authoritative academic research to distort historical facts about a region widely known as Manchuria and northern Korea.

The Education Ministry should make history compulsory in school as well as in college entrance tests. In academic evaluations, history should be given the same weight as such compulsory subjects as Korean language, mathematics and English. Likewise, teachers should find ways to make history interesting to students. This would involve lively discussions on historical issues, not forcing students to memorize historical facts without exploring their meaning.

Without knowing our country’s history, we will not know our identities, traditions or our future. Michael Crichton, the late American author, producer and director, said, “If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.”

Lee Chang-sup is the executive managing director of The Korea Times. Contact him at editorial@koreatimes.co.kr.