SEOUL — South Korea has officially protested new Japanese school textbooks that officials say distort historical accounts of wartime actions and territorial claims, escalating tensions between the two countries.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the protest was lodged after Japan's Ministry of Education approved textbooks for middle school students that allegedly minimize the forced nature of wartime atrocities committed by Japan and assert territorial rights over the Dokdo islets, which Korea asserts are its own. The Japanese Ambassador to South Korea, Koichi Aiboshi, was summoned to receive Seoul's complaint.
Lim Soo-suk, the spokesperson for South Korea's Foreign Ministry, criticized the textbooks for including what he described as "absurd and false accounts" of historical events, such as the treatment of Korean sexual slavery victims and forced laborers during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. Lim stated, "Dokdo is clearly an integral part of South Korean territory historically, geographically, and under international law."
The textbooks’ approval, initially completed last month but only recently announced, has been met with strong disapproval in South Korea. Lim conveyed deep concerns about the potential long-term consequences of such educational content. "The Japanese government’s authorization of a textbook that glorifies its past errors shows a disregard for factual history and is an irresponsible act," he explained. This educational approach could foster prejudiced views among Japanese youth, which Lim noted runs counter to efforts aimed at improving Korea-Japan relations.
The South Korean government has called on Japan to adopt a more responsible attitude towards historical education and to correct what it sees as distortions that could misinform young generations about the past.