A textbook war divides South Korea, exposing deep divisions in Korean life

For years, the South Korean government and private Korean organisations have objected to Japanese textbooks that convey a rather sunny version of Japan’s imperial and colonial history. Now a textbook controversy is turning Koreans against Koreans, and exposing deep divisions in Korean life.

All sides acknowledge that young South Koreans need some understanding of what’s going on in North Korea, but how should high schools portray life on the other side of the border? Should they depict their neighbours as enemies or victims? Is objectivity even possible?

Conservatives say the liberal scholars who wrote the existing textbooks have tended to ignore the darker aspects of the North Korean dictatorship, while liberals accuse conservatives of wanting to “demonise” the North.

One particularly spirited argument revolves around what textbooks teach high school students about “juche”, or self-reliance, North Korea’s avowed national philosophy.