In commemoration of
the 64th anniversary of the Korean War, one research institute conducted a
public opinion poll. The results showed that 4 out of 10 university students do
not even know the date the Korean War broke out. How is it possible for a
nation’s people to have no knowledge of when such a national tragedy took place? This may be the reality of history education in South Korea. Peruse
any middle or high school history textbook currently available and you can see
that their descriptions of the war are rife with inaccuracies.
Generally speaking, middle and
high school history textbooks hold that both the Soviet-supported Kim Il Sung
and U.S.-backed Syngman Rhee were equally accountable for the war. They agree that North Korea prepared for the war with help from the Soviets, and that Kim
Il Sung ordered the invasion of the South. However, they also describe the Cold War environment, the “Acheson Line” (the nominal American
defense perimeter), and battles around the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), giving them similar weight in the narrative and effectively downplaying the responsibility of
the Soviets and Kim Il Sung. Furthermore, textbooks portray the Korean War
as a battle for unification, with military force the only option
available to achieve it.
We must clearly state
that the Korean War was an illegal invasion of the South, supported by the
Soviets and led by Kim Il Sung, and that the UN, including Syngman Rhee and the U.S.,
fought back to defend liberalism. In other words, the Korean War was a conflict
predicated on the preservation of freedom. Other internal and external factors
must be introduced, of course, but only whilst highlighting this core fact. Yet our history
textbooks do not emphasize this truth, and, in fact, tend to exonerate those
responsible.
Depictions of this
nature suggest that textbooks remain under the influence of left wing revisionism.
This approach is best represented by proponents like Bruce Cumings, who assert that the
U.S. and South Korea provoked North Korea to invade, and that what had been a
civil war thus escalated into the Korean War. By introducing the Acheson Line, the U.S.
is alleged to have provoked Kim Il Sung into his invasion of the South. They also
reference the Ongjin Peninsula and other areas along the front line, suggesting
that local skirmishes in such locations eventually blew up into something much bigger.
It is
imperative that Kim Il Sung’s responsibility for initiating the Korean War
with Soviet backing, as well as China’s intentions, be made
clearer. When the Korean War is understood as the simple extension of a “civil
war” and if Soviet intentions are excluded or the U.S. is shown to have
provoked it, it misleads students as to the war’s basic causes and development. This is a serious problem. On a 2013 visit
to South Korea, Bruce Cummings stated, “Do not look to find out who
attacked first. The origins of the Korean War lie in the region from the Ongjin
Peninsula to the city of Kaesong, and those developments between May 1948 and
June 1950.” Yet Soviet and Chinese
diplomatic documents are accessible now; they shed light on the real causes and who is responsible for what.
Quite apart from this,
our school textbooks contain numerous other misrepresentations. They accuse Syngman
Rhee of delaying ceasefire talks. Some fail to mention civilian
massacres committed by the North, and only describe South Korean
atrocities. Regarding the influence of the Korean War, some describe the Rhee
administration as one which “implemented an anti-communist system and repressed
both those who opposed it politically and others who rightly criticized the
regime’s corruption and incompetence.”
By starting to correctly depict the Korean War, we can, at the very least, pay honor to the heroic souls
who made the supreme sacrifice for this nation and for liberal democracy. We need to reflect on all this,
starting with the history textbooks that we provide to young people growing up
here.
* Views expressed in Guest Columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Daily NK.
