Korean Job Discussion Forums

[catman]

I've heard this quite a bit but does anyone have any concrete examples?

Are there textbooks written with blatantly false information about Korean History?

A poster on another board claims that a middle school test had a queston asking who the greatest South Korea president was? Roh moo-hyun was the only acceptable answer.
Can't confirm if it is true of course.

If had students say some pretty interesting things to me about Korean history and politics. Difficult to say where exactly they got the information. Parents can have more influence on such opinions.

[I'm no Picasso]

This:

[ewok]

things known to be in korean elemtary/middle school textbooks:

-koreans have pure and unique blood.

-thus, the korean race is superior to other races because it has maintained itself pure.

-the whole world recognizes that 'hangul', the korean alphabet, is the best and most scientifically perfect in the world.

-korean food is healthier than any other food in the world.

-Unions are the best and only to way for workers to be fairly treated. If your dad isn't in a union, tell him to join. Then, you must join one when you grow up.

-Japan is evil. It is part of their genes. Thus, all japanese are guilty of having invaded korea in the past. All japanese look enviously at Korea's great land, and are waiting for the chance to invade again nd take over it. You must be vigilant against Japan.

-you must stay away form buying Japanese products, to prevent Japanese a Japanese cultural invasion.

-North Korea is really your brother, and the only reason we are separated is because Americans and Russians caused it. It is not NK's fault.

-Foreigners have big noses and smell bad. Stay away form them.

[fermentation]

American text books aren't very different in the sense that it's full of half-truths and opinions. My gripe with Koreans is that this kind of crap isn't challanged yet they demand Japan to fix its history textbooks.

I saw in the news a while back about a school teaching kids that the Korean War was started by the South invading the North.

Here are a few examples I remember from my childhood. I remember from my middle history class that the awesomeness of Koreans was described as a factor for any military victory. I was taught that the repeating crossbow and the "화차" (medieval rocket launcher that fired arrows with gun powder) was invented by Korea during the Silla Era and 15th century respectively. Sources I looked up personally cites China as the inventor of the repeating crossbow and there are sources that state Mongols used the rocket launcher in their campaigns during the 13th C, after seeing the Chinese use it. Also, 문익점, a guy who stole cotton seeds from the Yuan Dynasty and brought them to Korea, is touted as a hero. Now that's not that bad, but I have a feeling that if a foreigner stole something from Korea to benefit his country, Koreans would not see him as hero.

Out of curiosity, I looked at my sisters old HS history book on the section about military development in Chosun. It briefly mentions a military handbook being issued, but doesn't give any details on it. According to Swope, a respected East Asian military historian in the English world, Chinese military books were widely used by Chosun generals. While the HS texbook doesn't outright lie in this case, it does leave out some details that may mislead its readers.

If you want to learn Korean history, try to stay away from most Korean sources.

[cdninkorea]

This is a little off topic, but if you want a great book on the Korean war, read "The Korean War" by Max Hastings. It's from the American perspective, but it never forgets the Korean side of the war either. Apparently he's a very well-respected war historian (I wouldn't know, but that's what I've read).

I bought it an YoungPyeong Books for 17,600 won. The cover is a black and white photo of a young man sitting with his head in his hands and his helmet on the ground in front of him. 370 pages.

[catman]