Active-duty officers including generals participate in writing
Ministry of National Defense: "All textbooks recalled... audit of writing process"
National Defense Mental Power Institute to review and audit heads of institutions
President Yoon Suk-yeol strongly reprimanded the military personnel mental education textbook on the 28th. This was because many maps of the Korean Peninsula in the textbook did not show Dokdo at all and only listed it as a disputed area.
The new textbook states, "Around the Korean Peninsula, several major powers such as China, Russia, and Japan are in sharp conflict," and "These countries project military power overseas for their own interests, and territorial disputes such as the Diaoyu Islands (Japanese name: Senkaku Islands), the Kuril Islands, and Dokdo are ongoing, so military clashes could occur at any time."
It was also found that many maps of the Korean Peninsula in the textbook did not show Dokdo at all. The new textbook contains 11 maps of the Korean Peninsula, but none of them indicate Dokdo. The current textbook published five years ago does not include any map of the Korean Peninsula itself.
Regarding this, at the Ministry of National Defense's regular briefing that day, spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu said, "We did not mention the territorial dispute issue ourselves; the countries mentioned as subjects," and added, "We understand that territorial disputes such as the Diaoyu Islands issue with China and Japan are matters on which each country has its own international opinions, and the textbook simply describes various international situations."
The Ministry of National Defense planned to distribute the newly written 'Basic Textbook for Military Personnel Mental Power Education' to the entire military by the end of this month after five years. The Ministry sent a message to reporters covering the Ministry of National Defense that day, explaining, "Important expression issues such as the territorial dispute over Dokdo and the omission of Dokdo have been identified in the described content, so all copies will be recalled, and problems during the writing process will be promptly addressed through audit measures."
If an audit is conducted, the target will likely be the textbook authors. The Basic Textbook for Military Personnel Mental Power Education authors consist of a total of 10 people. This includes three senior Ministry of National Defense officials such as Kim Su-gwang, Director of Policy Planning at the Ministry of National Defense (Army Major General), and Kim Seong-gu, Deputy Director of Policy Planning at the Ministry of National Defense (Army Brigadier General). Currently, Kim Su-gwang has been reassigned as Director of Defense Affairs at the Ministry of National Defense, and Kim Seong-gu has been reassigned as a division commander. The authors also include six active-duty personnel, such as an Army Lieutenant Colonel who was promoted to Colonel after the textbook was published, and one civilian employee.
The textbook review included not only military professors from the Defense Mental Power Institute but also professors from the Korea National Defense University. The Defense Mental Power Institute, a direct unit of the Ministry of National Defense, was reestablished in 2013 based on the Armed Forces Mental Power School founded in 1977. In July, retired Colonel Yoon Won-sik was inaugurated as the 5th director.
Meanwhile, Kim Su-gyeong, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, issued a written briefing that day stating, "President Yoon Suk-yeol was informed that the Ministry of National Defense recently published military personnel mental education materials that described Dokdo, Korean territory, as a disputed territory, and he strongly reprimanded this as something that should never happen and ordered strict measures including immediate correction."
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