On March 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the Japanese government for approving textbook guidelines that claim sovereignty over Dokdo Island. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
By Kim Eun-young and Hahm Hee-eun
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly denounced the Japanese government’s final adoption of a set of guidelines for high school textbooks that lay claim to Korea's Dokdo Islands, and it urged an immediate withdrawal of the guidelines on March 30.
Noh Kyu-duk, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement that, "The Korean government will never tolerate any provocations about Dokdo, which is clearly Korean territory in terms of the historical and geographical perspectives, and also according to international law.”
He stressed that, “If the Japanese government refuses to reflect upon its wrongdoings under imperialism in its past by indoctrinating future generations with false historical facts about the Dokdo Islands, the country will lose an opportunity to move forward by learning from its historical lessons.”
The Japanese textbook guidelines are standards for the Japanese education curriculum and carry legal, binding force. Following textbook guidelines for elementary and middle school that were released last year, these high school textbook guidelines that were confirmed this year will be applied starting in 2022.