It is extremely encouraging that a textbook titled "History that Opens Tomorrow," which covers modern and contemporary Northeast Asian history and was compiled by scholars and civic activists in Korea, China, and Japan, will be published in those three countries at the end of this month. It arrives at a time when there heightened emotions because of historical distortions by Japan's right, prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to worship at Yasukuni Shrine, and the Dokdo issue. It is the concrete result of work to overcome the limits of self-centered history.
There has on occasion been joint government research and jointly organized academic seminars by scholars from Korea and Japan but this is the first time civil society from these three countries have joined together to produce a history textbook. We particularly want to compliment those who were involved for their years of persistent work and debate as they narrowed their positional differences to arrive at a final product. They have proved that the conservative exclusionism which says history is inevitably authored from the point of view of one's own country and that the idea of sharing a history textbook is therefore impossible was wrong.
The slogans "Northeast Asian community" and "Northeast Asian reconciliation and cooperation" are in fashion these days but if the deep historical residue is not cleared away for good they will most likely end up as slogans that are empty. One hopes the new history textbooks will allow the younger generation to see the whole region with an open perspective and assist them in mutual understanding.
The new textbook naturally has various limitations and so the work to supplement it must continue. It covers only modern and contemporary history, and there were no participants from North Korea and Taiwan. No small amount of difficulty can be expected in determining the framework and range of topics in the future. There is, however, no reason to have a negative outlook. The very fact that there has been this progress demonstrates the mature capacity of civil society, and we believe that energy will continue to spread.
The Hankyoreh, 17 May 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Joint History Textbook Brings Hope |
