EBS Instructors Revealing Political Bias... "Are Conservatives People with Wealth and Power?"

Elementary school first graders are attending an EBS class. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] A survey revealed that instructors affiliated with the public broadcaster EBS often provided politically biased or factually incorrect answers to students' questions.

On the 6th, the office of Bae Jun-young, a member of the People Power Party, announced that after investigating answers left by instructors on the EBS website Q&A board over the past five years, such issues were confirmed.

EBS Instructor: "Conservatives support policies that maintain vested interests because they have wealth and power"

In January of last year, EBS instructor Mr. A left a response to a student's question.

In January last year, Korean history instructor A responded to a student's question asking "What are conservatism and progressivism?" by saying, "Generally, those who call themselves conservatives are people who possess a certain amount of wealth and power and support policies that maintain their vested interests."

A continued, "However, the progressive camp tends to hope that the wealth and power of the privileged be shared and used for the lower classes," adding, "They listen to the voices of those discriminated against based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc., and strive to promote their rights," giving a positive evaluation of progressivism.

EBS Instructor Reveals Political Bias: "I wish the textbook included content on the ousting of the Park Geun-hye administration"

Answer left by EBS instructor Mr. B on the Q&A board in December 2016.

Another Korean history instructor, B, mentioned a personal wish regarding the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.

In December 2016, B responded to a student's question asking, "Is there a summary of the Park Geun-hye administration in the textbook?" by saying, "A summary can only be included once the Park Geun-hye administration ends," and added, "Personally, I hope content about the candlelight protests leading to the regime's ousting or the president's resignation will be included." At that time, the Constitutional Court was reviewing the impeachment motion against former President Park Geun-hye.

There were also factually incorrect answers. Social studies instructor C, when asked in May whether members of the National Assembly from different parties can form a negotiation group, replied, "I have not seen cases where members from different parties come together to form a negotiation group," providing an inaccurate answer.

In fact, last year, the Party for Democracy and Peace and the Justice Party formed a joint negotiation group called the "Assembly of Peace and Justice."

"Ruling party is the official entity, opposition parties are unofficial entities"… Confused concepts in the answer

Answer left by EBS instructor Mr. C on the Q&A board in December 2018.

Also, in December last year, C answered a question about the concept of "official entities" taught in middle school by saying, "The Democratic Party of Korea is the ruling party that produced the president, so it is the official entity," and "Other parties are opposition parties and thus unofficial entities," which was incorrect.

In middle school social studies, all parties other than the National Assembly, government, and judiciary are classified as unofficial entities regardless of ruling or opposition status.

C further gave incorrect answers regarding the Board of Audit and Inspection's review of government budget usage, stating that "the Board of Audit and Inspection inspects itself," and about national investigations, saying, "National investigations are not conducted during the national audit period but can be held by convening a temporary session if deemed necessary."

According to current law, national investigations can be conducted upon the request of negotiation groups regardless of the national audit schedule.

Regarding this, a former EBS instructor said, "The Q&A on the website is not separately reviewed, and if the instructor is busy, teaching assistants sometimes leave the answers."

Currently, EBS's "Online Class" is utilized for remote learning by 96.5% of the 11,710 elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide.

Assemblyman Bae said, "With the expansion of remote classes and increased use of EBS, teachers who provide factually incorrect or insufficient knowledge are teaching students, which may lower the quality of education," and added, "The Ministry of Education should step in to supervise and manage the content of EBS, a highly credible educational institution."