[EDITORIALS]Distorting history

Problems regarding distortion of our modern history in high school textbooks were raised during a forum organized by the Grand National Party yesterday. Participants pointed out that the textbooks degraded Seoul’s industrialization as “skewed modernization,” while casting a friendly and neutral eye to the North’s failed system, causing ideological confusion among our students.
Some textbooks say the Saemaeul Movement initiated by President Park Chung Hee was used to justify the Park administration’s authoritarian rule, while the North’s Chunlima Movement played a significant role in building a socialist economy between the late 1950s and early 1960s. They criticize modern South Korean regimes under Presidents Syngman Rhee and Park, yet overlook North Korea’s problems such as violations of human rights and political prison camps. We wonder how books that not only fail to adhere to our constitution but also make little sense were authorized. It is reasonable to suspect they were approved due to government pressure. Some past administrations used textbooks to legitimize themselves, while the current government’s negative stance on the market economy is worrying.
We are concerned about how these distorted textbooks will impact our young students. All textbooks must be reexamined and be corrected where necessary.