Chinese, S Korean, Japanese scholars jointly publishes history textbook
2005-05-26 03:27 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, May 26 (AP) -- Scholars from South Korea, Japan and China jointly published a history textbook Thursday, partly in response to Japanese schoolbooks that critics say gloss over Japan's wartime atrocities in the region.
South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun praised the textbook in a message read at a ceremony for its release.
"History is a window to the future," Roh said. "When the peoples of Korea, China and Japan together have the correct perception of history, peace and coexistence of the Northeast Asian era can be realized."
Roh said the new textbook will lay the groundwork for "teaching growing children history as it happened," according to a statement released by his office.
Japanese textbooks have sparked fierce criticism in South Korea and China, which suffered massive losses during Japanese invasions and its World War II occupation of much of the region.
The 249-page book, published in the Japanese, Korean and Chinese languages, comes after four years of studies involving 54 scholars and focuses on the three countries' modern history, publishers said.
More than 60 pages deal with Japan's invasion of China and the Korean peninsula. It describes Japanese atrocities, including mass sex slavery. The book also calls Japanese citizens both offenders and victims of war.
The book proves that "it is possible to form a common conception of history among the three nations while respecting each country's own conception of history," the scholars who published the work said in a statement.
"We hope our desire for peace and mutual respect, contained in each sentence of this book, can spread through this book," they said.
Publishers said an English-language version of the book will also be released, but it was not immediately clear when.
Chinese, S Korean, Japanese scholars jointly publishes history textbook_china_English_SINA.com
2005-05-26 03:27 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, May 26 (AP) -- Scholars from South Korea, Japan and China jointly published a history textbook Thursday, partly in response to Japanese schoolbooks that critics say gloss over Japan's wartime atrocities in the region.
South Korea's President Roh Moo-hyun praised the textbook in a message read at a ceremony for its release.
"History is a window to the future," Roh said. "When the peoples of Korea, China and Japan together have the correct perception of history, peace and coexistence of the Northeast Asian era can be realized."
Roh said the new textbook will lay the groundwork for "teaching growing children history as it happened," according to a statement released by his office.
Japanese textbooks have sparked fierce criticism in South Korea and China, which suffered massive losses during Japanese invasions and its World War II occupation of much of the region.
The 249-page book, published in the Japanese, Korean and Chinese languages, comes after four years of studies involving 54 scholars and focuses on the three countries' modern history, publishers said.
More than 60 pages deal with Japan's invasion of China and the Korean peninsula. It describes Japanese atrocities, including mass sex slavery. The book also calls Japanese citizens both offenders and victims of war.
The book proves that "it is possible to form a common conception of history among the three nations while respecting each country's own conception of history," the scholars who published the work said in a statement.
"We hope our desire for peace and mutual respect, contained in each sentence of this book, can spread through this book," they said.
Publishers said an English-language version of the book will also be released, but it was not immediately clear when.
Chinese, S Korean, Japanese scholars jointly publishes history textbook_china_English_SINA.com
