Lee Taegyu: "Moon Administration's Student Educational Materials Glorify North Korea and Distort the Causes of the Korean War"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Lee Tae-gyu, a member of the People Power Party and the Education Committee's secretary, pointed out on the 30th that the peace and unification education materials for students produced during the Moon Jae-in administration are politically exploiting education by glorifying North Korea.

The "Guidebook for Middle and High School Students' Field Trips to North Korean Areas," developed during the Moon Jae-in administration, was a detailed task under the Ministry of Education's "Plan to Revitalize School Peace and Unification Education" established in November 2018. In 2019, 200 million KRW in special grants were allocated to promote this as a national policy project.

Lee criticized, "Overall, this book adopts a typical intrinsic approach that views the Korean War, inter-Korean relations, and North Korea from North Korea's perspective. The Korean War was caused by North Korea's invasion, but the book explains it as if the war's outbreak was triggered because both South and North Korea established separate governments."

He also raised concerns about the fact that the research director who developed the book had political biases and was affiliated with a specific political party, making it impossible to maintain political neutrality or objectivity, yet was still entrusted with the role of research director. The Ministry of Education stated that the book was not uploaded on the Ministry's website or EduNet T-Clear, but according to the Gangwon Provincial Office of Education, which oversaw the book's development, it was confirmed that copies were distributed to schools in the district (five copies per school).

Lee said, "When creating books related to North Korea, they should be produced from an objective perspective so that children can see and understand the facts without exaggerating or underestimating North Korea's reality. The problem is that the Ministry of Education only provided the budget and neglected content management." He added, "Through this national audit, we will emphasize the education authorities' will to depoliticize education to prevent excessive ideology or factional logic from interfering in the educational field, as well as the importance of political neutrality and objectivity, and urge the establishment of countermeasures."