SEOUL– The education ministry said Wednesday that omitting descriptions of the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju from the latest textbook guidelines is part of efforts to give textbook writers more autonomy.
Criticism arose after revelations that there was not a single mention of the May 18 uprising in revised writing guidelines for textbooks that will be used in elementary, middle and high schools. The guidelines, finalized on Dec. 22, will serve as a key reference for textbook writers.
The Ministry of Education said the revision is part of the curriculum change to minimize descriptions of specific and individual historical events, including the crackdowns during the pro-democracy uprising in 1980, in an effort to ensure more autonomy for the textbook writers.
“The draft proposal by a policy research committee was released in late July, and learning elements such as the May 18 uprising were not described at the time,” Jang Hong-jae, a education policy adviser, told a press briefing on Wednesday. He also said other historical events, such as the April 3, 1948, uprising on the southern island of Jeju, were excluded.
Later in the day, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho said the ministry will change the guidelines to include the May 18 uprising.
“Major historical events, along with the May 18 democratization movement, will be reflected in the textbook writing guidelines and described in textbooks so that students can learn the spirit of the May 18 democratization movement,” he said.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and other civic groups, including the May 18 Memorial Foundation, strongly denounced the guidelines, saying such omission is damaging the spirit of democracy.
Some even further argued that the omission was intentionally executed to meet the taste of the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration.
“The government is trying to outright erase the May 18 uprising,” DP leader Lee Jae-myung said at a party meeting, adding the move is “unacceptable.”
“The government should immediately stop erasing the May 18 uprising,” Lee said. “An administration that denies history will be sternly tried before the judge of history.”
The ruling People Power Party (PPP), on the other hand, claimed it was the former government that decided to revise the textbook guidelines.
“The PPP and the government of President Yoon Suk Yeol uphold the May spirit, and the DP should not misstate the facts with political motives,” PPP spokesperson Yang Geum-hee said, noting the PPP calls on the government to come up with measures to describe the democracy movement in textbooks.
On May 18, 1980, the military cracked down on demonstrators, including students, protesting against then President Chun Doo-hwan, who had taken power in a military coup a year earlier. The harsh quelling of the uprising left more than 200 dead and 1,800 others wounded.
Source: Yonhap News Agency