Yoon Seok-yeol, President-elect, "Will Respond Firmly" to Japanese History-Distorting Textbooks

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is presiding over the Economic Subcommittees 1 and 2 and the Science, Technology, and Education Subcommittee briefing meeting held at the Presidential Transition Committee in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 31st. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The office of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol stated on the 31st that it will "firmly respond to any historical distortion" regarding Japan's 'historical distortion' textbooks.

Kim Eun-hye, spokesperson for the president-elect, emphasized during an afternoon briefing, "Since his candidacy, President-elect Yoon has hoped for a developmental relationship between Korea and Japan, but he has repeatedly stated that this requires a correct historical understanding and thorough reflection on the past."

Until the day before, Yoon’s office responded to the issue of Japan’s distorted history textbooks with a general stance, saying, "Since this is not yet the president-elect’s official position, it is inappropriate to express opinions on individual diplomatic matters."

Spokesperson Kim said, "The reason for refraining from mentioning this issue so far is because Japan’s current diplomatic partner is President Moon Jae-in’s administration, and as the president-elect, it was judged to be a matter of propriety to first respect the individual diplomatic matters announced by the government."

She added, "The Democratic Party is a ruling party with governing experience and is still the ruling party for now," and criticized, "It is regrettable to make remarks that seem to use diplomatic issues for domestic politics." Spokesperson Kim again requested the Democratic Party, "We ask you to observe proper boundaries. We politely urge cooperation with a stance that prioritizes national interests."

This position of President-elect Yoon was a strong rebuttal in response to the Democratic Party’s offensive claiming that "(Yoon’s office) is 'silent' on Japan’s historical distortion."

On the 29th, Japan held a textbook screening and investigation council and approved 239 textbooks to be used by students in the second year of high school and above. In some of these textbooks, the expression "forced mobilization" of Koreans during the Japanese colonial period was changed to "mobilization" or "requisition" during the screening process. Twelve social studies textbooks, including geography, civics, and political economy, included descriptions that Dokdo is "Japan’s (our country’s) inherent territory."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.