Rewriting history? South Korea unveils controversial state history textbooks

South Korea’s government on Tuesday unveiled the final version of state-issued school history textbooks despite criticism that they are a throwback to the country’s authoritarian past.

Park Chung-Hee ruled the country for 18 years until his assassination in 1979.

“We need to establish a historical perception that will encourage positive views about our own history,” vice education minister Lee Young told reporters at the announcement.

But critics argue the new textbooks exaggerate Park Chung-hee’s role in industrialising the country, while glossing over his human rights abuses.

“As a result of government efforts to boost exports, export volume jumped 40 per cent every year,” an online copy of the new high school textbook said about the Park era.

History remains a bitter ideological battleground in South Korea, which achieved democracy only in 1987.