Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bookemdanno]

I don't read much less speak Korean or I would gladly investigate this myself.

So has anyone ever read a Korean middle school history textbook?

I'm very curious to know how the following events are explained:

a) origins of the Korean War
b) Korean involvement in the war against Japan
c) American foreign policy in Korea since the war
d) Korean inventions

Some Chinese websites claim some pretty astonishing things about what is said, which I'd like to verify. This might lead to a constructive discussion on the issue as well. Mahalo.

[billybrobby]

I used to live by a used bookstore that had plenty of textbooks. But at the time my Korean was poor enough that I just bought elementary school grammar books.

It was still kinda socially interesting. They had the kids writing essays on why it's important to be creative and think indepedently.

[drkalbi]

STEVEMCGARRETT IS THAT YOU?

[Ronald]

There's not so many good one's other than modern history in English. It's not wonder either. Indepth study of Korea's "5000 year old History" would demand a scholar read, understand pre hanguel Chinese characters and Hanguel, Chinese, Japanese, and Mongolian History to get a clear picture of this penisula's history ancient history. In some scholar ever did, who know's what he/she would discover.

[Rob'sdad]

Keep in mind that the contents of the textbooks are completely dictated by the Ministry of Education and change about every 6 years. What I mean to say is different age groups have learned different things.

You can check out the comic book "먼나라, 이웃 나라". It's about different countries. The English version about Korea is called "Korea Unmasked". It's such a pile of blithering trash that I darn near drowned on my bile while reading it, but it will give you an insight.

[GoldMember]

As well as the officially sanctioned History books, there are also supplementary books written in comic form for kiddies.
History is a complex topic, so being written for kids, the message is simplified. By simplifying complex issues, those issues can be distorted.
One comic I saw had a Korean boy talking to an Indian boy, and they were comparing colonization stories. The boys were crying, with India colonized by the British and Korea by Japan. In this story we see a cartoon of a Japanese soldier kicking a Korean.
Fundamentally the use of simplified cartoons is and has been used by many as a proganda tool, think WW1 and WW2, and Arab cartoons vilifying Jews.
You don't need good Korean to understand these comics, just check out some of the bookshops.