New York Times Editorial (NOV. 12, 2015)
Half my life was spent outside South Korea, but I still cannot forget certain history lessons from childhood in Seoul. Dokdo, rocky islets claimed by both South Korea and Japan, is an inalienable Korean territory. Hangul, the writing system credited to a 15th-century king and used by the two Koreas, is the most scientific on Earth. Even after I wrote a doctoral dissertation on modern Korea and taught Korean studies courses at universities, such nationalistic claims of varying persuasiveness whisper to me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The administration of President Park Geun-hye also knows that history is a powerful tool for molding young minds. That is why, after weeks of rancorous public debate, on Nov. 3 it made official its decision to replace current middle and high school history textbooks produced by private publishers with government-issued ones by 2017.
bitter anger or unfriendly feelings:Can we settle this disagreement without rancor?
a rancorous debate: 치고 박고 하는 토론
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The books have yet to be written. But there is no question that Ms. Park and her Saenuri Party will whitewash the past to bolster the conservative cause at the expense of the education system and South Korea’s international reputation as a democracy, and harm Seoul’s attempt to hold Japan accountable for its wartime conduct.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is accused by critics of numerous flaws that contradict mainstream and scholarly assessment, such as downplaying or ignoring many episodes of state-sponsored violence in South Korea’s modern history, as well as portraying the coup on May 16, 1961, by Ms. Park’s father, Park Chung-hee, as legitimate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Much to the chagrin of the right, this textbook, published since 2013, has been shunned by schools, which have latitude to choose from the eight options.
disappointment or anger, especially when caused by a failureor mistake:My children have never shown an interest in music, much to my chagrin
latitude = freedom ( freedom to behave, act, or think in the way you want to:)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The administration and the ruling party are staging a concerted pushback against historical disclosures made possible by democratic gains.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now Ms. Park, who stated during a 1989 television interview that her father’s military coup was “a revolution for the nation’s salvation,” is having her turn at correcting history
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Park defends the unwritten books, saying that it is necessary to “inculcate the students with historical convictions and pride.” Yet that remark itself betrays an outdated view of history education as being solely in service of chauvinism, far removed from how more than 200 Korean studies professors around the world define it in a public call for South Korea to abort the new textbook plan.
to fix beliefs or ideas in someone's mind, especially by repeating them often:Our coach has worked hard to inculcate a team spirit in/into the players.The goal is to inculcate in students a tolerance for people of other religions and races.
In geopolitical terms, the Park administration is undermining efforts to confront Japan over its crimes in the wartime era, especially the issue of comfort women. If South Korea can promote its own incomplete history among children, why should Japan not be able to do the same and obscure its dark past?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Short of abandoning her scheme entirely, Ms. Park may be able to make a case for government-issued history textbooks by including on the panel of authors not only scholars from within her ideological camp but also an equal number of those her officials deem to be “leftists.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------In short, only governments that suffer from a tenuous hold on legitimacy overtly rely on education to manipulate the masses.
A tenuous connection, idea, or situation is weak and possibly does not exist:The police have only found a tenuous connection between the two robberies.The aging dictator’s hold on power is tenuous.