[In depth interview]A peaceful view of history

Jung Ok-ja, the new chairwoman of the National History Compilation Commission, is the first female to head the government agency in its 60-year history. Jung was also the first female professor in Seoul National University’s department of Korean history and the first woman to head Kyujanggak, a repository of Korean historical records inside the university. The 66-year-old scholar is the first woman to take such prominent roles in academic and national historical studies.
In a recent interview, she said that has been a burden, at times.
“I wish I had a role model. But at some point, the feeling of pressure turned into the feeling of duty,” said Jeong. “I thought, I have to do my best because if I do something wrong, the next generation would be disadvantaged.”
She specializes in the history of political ideology during the late Joseon Dynasty and has openly said she views each historical period based on how well the era establishes and maintains peace.
She calls it a “peaceful” view of history and says it is based on her personal experience of the Korean War.
During the war, she saw her father and three sisters die in front of her eyes. She was 9 years old at the time. There was a rumor that communists killed anyone who didn’t have calluses on their hands because that meant they were bourgeois. Her father was a rich businessman. She remembered him saying, “We are trapped now,” and jumping into a lake with her three younger sisters.
She wrote about her painful past in a book, “Today is History,” published in 2004.
After graduating from Seoul National University with a degree in Korean history, she got married and spent 10 years as a stay-at-home mother before returning to school. Her experience during the war made her keep studying Korean history until now, she said.
“I will devote my efforts to making people feel proud of our history,” Jeong said.
To achieve this goal, she said, the commission will focus on setting up a database of Korean historical records and attracting more people to take the Korean history test that the commission has been offering since 2006.
The examination is offered to to anyone interested in challenging their knowledge of Korean history, a strategy to raise public awareness of the country’s history.

Q. You were earlier short-listed to head the commission under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.
A. I was one of the final two candidates. I think things worked out better in the end. If I had been named as chairwoman under the former administration, I would have had to leave my post now.

Why do you think you were nominated to lead the commission under the two administrations?
I think the Civil Service Commission has an objective standard when they select candidates. Maybe the commission liked my impartial historical views. But the chairwoman of the commission is not the head of the academic community. I am saying that I will not take my position the wrong way.

Globalization and development are greatly emphasized these days.
There is a spirit of the age at any period. The new administration wants to advance the country in this era of globalization. Pragmatism is the administration’s policy to achieve this goal. While stressing development and pragmatism, we have to have our own principles at the same time. If not, we tread dangerously. An era is defined by the country and people. We have to have self-respect. To stride across national boundaries in this era of globalization, we have to have a clear view of our history.

What kind of historical view? You have been emphasizing a “peaceful” view of history.
Without my experience during the Korean War, I would have lived my life comfortably and without any concerns. The war changed my life. My historical perspective was influenced by the experience. We have to stop wars, no matter what their aims. The imperialist view of history and the nationalist view of history can be seen as the front and back sides of the same coin in the sense that they are both militant.
Your story is unusually tragic.
I think it is important in the study of history how deeply a person has thought and experienced. It is especially important in studying the history of ideologies. Personal experiences take an important role in the studies. People and historical studies closely interrelate.

What are you going to focus on during your term?
It is regrettable that history has been excluded from many examinations. I am going to accept what the commission has been doing well and revise what it has done in a one-sided manner. I will devote myself to getting more people interested in Korean history. I will keep pursuing the task of forming a database of historical records. The Korean history examination is an important channel, connecting our history to the general public. I will invite more people to take the test so that we can compensate for the shortcoming of current history education.

What do you mean that the committee had done some work in a one-sided way?
I think that the current and modern history of Korea have been relatively emphasized compared to other periods. We need to have a balance between different eras and fields of historical study. I want to strengthen research on traditional eras so that we can feel proud of our history. History should be approached in a purely academic way, not distorted through a political perspective.

By Bae Young-dae JoongAng Ilbo [soejung@joongang.co.kr]