[Exclusive] Military Mental Education Textbook Marks Dokdo After 7 Months [Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club]

'Dokdo is Indigenous Territory, No Territorial Dispute' Notation
Correction of Errors Such as Number of Occupations of Baengmagoji in Existing Textbooks

The Ministry of National Defense has corrected the Dokdo issue in the basic textbook for soldiers' mental strength education. When the Ministry of National Defense distributed the textbook in December last year, it described Dokdo as a territory under dispute, causing controversy. This time, it was revised to state that "Dokdo is the inherent territory of the Republic of Korea, and there can be no territorial dispute."

The Ministry of National Defense's newly published "Basic Textbook for Mental Power Education"

According to a government official on the 31st, the Ministry of National Defense's "Basic Textbook for Mental Strength Education" is revised every five years. The textbook distributed at the end of last year maintained the three major areas of national perspective, security perspective, and soldier's spirit, similar to the basic textbook during the Moon Jae-in administration, but the security perspective was changed to an adversary perspective, increasing the volume by several dozen pages.

However, it described Dokdo as follows: "Around the Korean Peninsula, several major powers such as China, Russia, and Japan are sharply confronting each other. These countries project military power overseas for their own interests, and territorial disputes such as Diaoyudao (Japanese name: Senkaku Islands), the Kuril Islands, and Dokdo are ongoing, so military clashes can occur at any time."

This time, Dokdo was also marked on the map of the Korean Peninsula. Many maps of the Korean Peninsula in last year's textbook did not show Dokdo. The map of the Korean Peninsula appears 11 times in total, and from this textbook, the Ministry of National Defense based the markings on the "National Atlas of the Republic of Korea" published by the National Geographic Information Institute.

South Korea-Japan Relations Changed from ‘Partnership’ to ‘Cooperative Relationship’

Regarding South Korea-Japan relations, it previously explained, "We aim to develop a partnership based on trust recovery with Japan, focusing on future cooperation that aligns with common interests and values." However, in this textbook, it was revised to say, "With Japan, we firmly and strictly respond to some political leaders' distorted historical perceptions and unjust territorial claims on Dokdo, while aiming to develop a future-oriented cooperative relationship on joint security issues for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia."

The sentence stating that North Korea uses a Kim Il-sung praise song as its national anthem was deleted. Using the term "national anthem" would imply recognizing it as another country. The previous textbook stated, "North Korea's flag was produced and issued by the Soviet Union," but it was revised to, "North Korea's flag was produced under Kim Il-sung's directive and adopted as the national flag in 1948."

Corrections of Errors in GDP, Economic Growth Rate, Pohang Steel Mill Completion Year, etc.

Incorrect data was also corrected. The previous textbook listed South Korea's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ranking as 10th, but this was revised to 13th. South Korea's economic growth rate in 2021 was adjusted upward from 4.1% to 4.5%. The general report of the Korean hydropower survey, which the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced in 2010, was removed due to unclear sources. Additionally, historical inaccuracies were corrected, including the period of the Sui Dynasty, the completion year of the Pohang Steel Mill, and the number of times the hill ownership changed during the Battle of Baengma-goji.

New Additions to the Textbook Including Legal Effectiveness of the NLL

The Northern Limit Line (NLL) section was newly added. The textbook states, "Since its establishment in 1953, the NLL has clear legal effectiveness and is the 'practical maritime boundary line' that our military has protected with blood for over 70 years."

Meanwhile, besides the previously pointed out issues, many other problems were identified, but there are criticisms that the disciplinary measures against the authors were too lenient considering the seriousness of the matter. The basic textbook for soldiers' mental strength education by the Ministry of National Defense, which was criticized for describing Dokdo as a disputed territory, was written mainly by active-duty military personnel, lacked proper review of the final version, and had insufficient external consultation during the publication process. In particular, the decisive factor was the dismissal of concerns about inappropriate descriptions related to Dokdo.

The Ministry of National Defense announced the audit results regarding the Dokdo description in the "Basic Textbook for Mental Strength Education" and issued warnings to two individuals, including the Army Major General who was the director in charge (Policy Planning Officer) at the time of publication, and gave cautionary measures to two public officials, including the manager in charge. The Ministry emphasized that there was no intentional wrongdoing and explained that the records would remain in personnel files but would not cause disadvantages.