Received 7,860 Public Opinions on Revised Curriculum Including History Museum and Gender Equality Expressions

Ministry of Education Requests Revisions and Supplements from Policy Researchers
Controversies Arise Over Historical Textbook Expressions with Each Revision
Public Hearings for Each Subject to Begin on the 28th

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Education has released a draft of the 2022 revised curriculum, and as ideological debates erupted over the history subject, over 7,800 opinions demanding either revisions or retention were received. Controversy arose as expressions such as 'liberal democracy' in modern history and 'invasion from the South' regarding the Korean War were omitted, and the Ministry stated that it made a "special request for revisions and supplements" to the policy research team.

On the 19th, the Ministry of Education announced the results of collecting public opinions on the curriculum draft, which was made public on the public participation communication channel on the 30th of last month.

As of the 13th, a total of 7,860 opinions were received through the public participation communication channel, including 4,751 from the general public (including parents), 461 from students, and 2,648 from teachers. When classified by subject, the opinions were 1,361 for social studies, 1,078 for ethics, 886 for Korean language, and 715 for history. The Ministry delivered the public's opinions to the subject policy research team on the 16th.

Conservative academia raised issues regarding the omission of the term 'invasion from the South' related to the Korean War in the high school Korean history subject and the omission of 'liberal democracy' in the content related to the development and democratization of democracy in modern history. The Ministry had announced its position to revise and supplement the draft after consulting with the research team the day after the draft was released.

In this curriculum draft, the Korean War is described as "the Korean War and the entrenchment of the North-South division," whereas the 2015 curriculum explicitly stated it as "the Korean War triggered by the full-scale invasion from the North Korean regime." When describing elements related to "the development of the Republic of Korea" in modern history, the term "liberal" was omitted, and the phrase "the trials and development of democracy" was used instead.

Regarding this, the Ministry of Education explained, "Since social conflicts have been reproduced with each revision and concerns about history were confirmed through the 'public participation communication channel,' we conveyed a special request to the policy research team to meticulously revise and supplement the curriculum so that essential content for balanced history education for students is faithfully reflected."

The Ministry added, "Although many opinions pointed out bias in the released curriculum draft and demanded revisions and supplements, there were also opinions supporting the research team's draft or endorsing the ideological foundation of history education."

The adjustment of the curriculum draft is primarily decided by the policy research team. The revised curriculum draft has been submitted to the National Education Commission, which holds the authority to review and approve the revision. After review and approval, the Minister of Education will officially announce the revised curriculum.

An official from the Ministry of Education stated, "Whether content revisions are possible during the review and approval process requires discussion, and the preparation of the draft should be judged together with the policy research team and others. If the policy research team reflects only a specific stance, it will be difficult to gain public consensus. Since diverse opinions have been fully conveyed, we expect the policy research team to review them carefully."

In subjects other than history, opinions were received in ethics demanding that "gender equality" be revised to "sex equality" and that cases involving homosexuality, gender transition, and abortion not be included. In health education, opinions were raised that terms interpreted as beyond binary gender, such as gender equality, gender, gender sensitivity, and social minorities, as well as terms like sexual self-determination and reproductive rights that could confuse adolescents' values, should be deleted. Conversely, there were also opinions supporting the use of terms like gender equality, gender, sexuality, and social minorities, considering social changes and diversity.

Many opinions supported maintaining the "one book per semester" reading in the Korean language subject. For mathematics and science subjects, opinions were expressed that the basics should be learned more thoroughly, while concerns about increased learning burden were also raised.

The Ministry of Education will hold public hearings on the general and subject-specific revised drafts, reflecting public opinions, from the 28th to October 8th. The drafts discussed at the public hearings will also be made public on the public participation communication channel, and public opinions will be collected for five days after each subject's hearing.

To ensure that public opinions are more faithfully reflected, contentious subjects will have their issues coordinated through the detailed adjustment committee and the revision promotion committee even before the public hearings.

Deputy Minister of Education Jang Sang-yoon stated, "We will continue to closely consult with the policy research team, transparently disclose all processes to the public, and do our best to create the 2022 revised curriculum that enables our students to develop the competencies needed for future society."

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