Writers of the Japanese History Textbooks Revise 6 Korean Related Items

Writers and publishers of the Japanese history textbooks applied for the revision to the Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (Japan’s Education Ministry) yesterday to voluntarily revise the 9 items, including the 6 Korean related items.

Nishio Kanji, president of the Association to Make New History Textbooks, which wrote the problematic history textbooks, and the publishing company Husosha said that they decide to delete the sentence ``there were some people ready to accept the annexation`` within the description on the `Korea-Japan annexation`. They also decide to change the sentence which said, ``Chosun was subjugated to China,`` to ``Chosun was under the strong political influence of China.`` The Association announced that it would delete the following: deletion of ``helped Shilla`` in the sentence ``Yamato regime, which crossed over the sea, helped Shilla and Baikjae to fight against Goguryo``; deletion of ``the formal national border`` in the Korean War related description.

At the issued statement named `Talk on the application for revision`, Hishio said that the deleted part in the description on the Korea-Japan annexation was meant to ``designate the Iljinhoi, which had about 0.2 million members. However, since there was no proof that all the members agreed on the matter, we decided to delete it.`` It seems that the Association wants to highlight the fact that they will revise under their own assessment by applying for the independent revision, instead of following the Education Ministry’s command to revise. It is anticipated that the Japan’s Education Ministry will announce the result of the examination on the revision demanded by the Korean government during this week.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/