총 40페이지

Editorial
Let Go of Distorted History
“W
e respect the individuality and taste of each member because we don’t democratize,’’ said
oneidolsingeronalocalradioshow,raisingasenseofcrisisandwrathregardingthecurrent
historyeducationsysteminKoreansociety.
Theuseoftheword‘democratization’doesnotmakeanysenseregardingitsdictionarydefinitionwhichis“to
makeallpeoplehaveanequalrightindecisionsthataffecttheirlives.”Afterherstatementwaswidelyspread
acrosscyberspace,peoplestartedtorealizetheseriousnessofthesituationrelatedtoalackofmodernKorean
historyeducationinschools.Itis,however,notthehistoryclassthatshouldbeblamed,butthereareafewmore
thingsthatshouldbetakenintoaccount.
Our road to democracy was so explosive that the remnants of the chaos still remain and continue to disrupt
thetruehistorybeingtaught.ThebiggestexampleistheGwangjuDemocracyMovementthatoccurredinMay
1980. Located in Southwest Korea, university students actively participated in a pro-democratic government
movementthatopposedthedictatorship.Atthattime,armedtroopsweresenttothissmallcityandorderedto
indiscriminately shoot and beat the crowd. Due to its brutal suppression, more than several hundred residents
werekilled.
Tragically, however, this incident was known as a “riot, led by communists, and was meant to overthrow
the regime,” until recent years. The truth had been completely blocked by the government and media for a
long time. The authoritarian government used an ideological conflict as a critical tactic to maintain its power.
Newspapers were gagged and prevented from exercising their freedom of speech. Both the government and
media have distorted history of which still has not yet been completely corrected. Some people, including
teachers, still believe that the Gwangju Movement was led by communists and are even still teaching students
thismanufacturedtruth.Nowmorethanever,itisvitalthatwecorrectdistortionsofhistory.
Whatismore,inconsiderationoftheGwangjuDemocracyMovementmentionedabove,thereareindications
ofhowimportanttheroleofmediaisinbuildingademocraticsociety.Morethanthehistorylessonsatschool,
the media is likely to have a greater influence on the formation of historical recognition on Korean people.
Young people are especially exposed to distorted historical information provided by internet sites and TV
programs.Thatiswhyitisurgentformediaproducerstodevelopcorrecthistoricalprogramswhichcanprovide
easilyinfluencedyoungpeoplewithanunbiased,properviewoftheirmotherland.Well-thoughtoutjournalism
hasbeenandwillplayasignificantroleinformingthecorrecthistoricalrecognitionofthemasses.
Three decades ago, students our own age gave their lives for the ‘democratization’ of the country. Now, the
current generation enjoys the freedom of this democratic country and uses this sacred term as a buzzword
in jest. The change is not anyone’s fault nor is it due to an absence of history classes. Right corrections over
somedistortedhistoricalissuesmustbemadepriortotheothermeasuresandthiswillenablepeopletorectify
distortedhistoricalviewsthathavebeenspreadamongKoreancitizensovertime.Withthis,wewillbeableto
correctlyteachthenextgenerationourhistory.
WooHae-chung
EditorinChief
JUNE 2013
1

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