Comments on: Korean Students Fail National History Tests

By: June 25 is a bad day for birthdays « Generic Korean

June 25 is a bad day for birthdays « Generic Korean — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 05:29:24 +0000

[...] war” by Americans and it aptly deserves its name considering most Korean students can’t even remember when the Korean war began. Only reason I know the date is because it’s also Rain’s birthday. Who’s [...]

By: Singer Shin Hae-chul praises North Korea’s launch « Extra! Korea

Singer Shin Hae-chul praises North Korea’s launch « Extra! Korea — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:33:48 +0000

[...] then the Korean War broke out as well as one of the 51% who don’t know who started it. Like these students, he probably would have failed a test of his country’s own history. For example, does he know [...]

By: Brian in Jeollanam-do: Bet you 1,000 won that you can guess what foreign textbooks are doing to Korean history.

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:19:19 +0000

[...] students don’t know when the Korean War started or who started it, and half of high school students failed their National History Exam a couple years ago. I’ve touched on the topic of textbook miseducation earlier here. Yes, it [...]

By: America Ranked Greatest Ally & Threat to South Korea

America Ranked Greatest Ally & Threat to South Korea — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:28:54 +0000

[...] Normal caveats apply when it comes to Korean polls, but even if accurate I can’t say I’m surprised by how little historical knowledge Korean students have considering how they continue to fail their national history exams. [...]

By: Rehashing Korean War Era Executions

Rehashing Korean War Era Executions — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:10:08 +0000

[...] they so despise in their historical revisionism. Is it any wonder why South Korean students are failing their annual history exams with people like this writing their [...]

By: Korean Army Cadets Name US as Their Main Enemy

Korean Army Cadets Name US as Their Main Enemy — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:22:23 +0000

[...] politicization of Korean history has led directly to over half of South Korean students failing their national history exams during leftist government rule in the ROK. Now with the Korean right in control of the government [...]

By: Korean History Textbook Controversy Returns

Korean History Textbook Controversy Returns — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:05:05 +0000

[...] Is it any wonder why Korean students fail national history tests? [...]

By: GI Korea

GI Korea — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 05:48:03 +0000

I agree that the US students don't know history to well either. Years ago when I told a high school buddy of mine that I was getting stationed in Korea, he told me, "Hey that's great, enjoy the islands!"

However, like lirelou accurately stated, history in Korea is a means of indoctrination and not a search for understanding what really happened so actual lessons learned from it can be applied in the future.

By: Lirelou

Lirelou — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 17:35:21 +0000

John B., History is not a hard subject to teach if you love it. I pitch a "how we got here" lecture to various military audiences in Korea, and never fail to get people stopping by after the lecture to ask for recommended books where they can find out more information. And I once served a short tour with a Reservist who taught history in High School. This individual bore a resemblance to T.R. Roosevelt, and would get dressed up as a rough rider, and in various other historical get-up, whenever he hit certain periods of American history. He was also quite dynamic and humorous in his presentations. I would be willing to bet that none of his students slept in class, and that they took a lot out of it. Know your subject, be dynamic in your presentation, and don't waste your students time are three recipes for success in teaching any subject. Unfortunately, history in Korea is meant to be a tool for indoctrination rather than a means of analysis. Thus my co-worker, a MA holder from a prestigious Ivy league college, loaths and despises the Japanese for having, among other things, forced "all Koreans" to change their names to Japanese. He refuses to even consider any evidence that this was not the case.

By: John B

John B — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:49:49 +0000

It's a little unfair to snipe at Korean history education; I was an honors student in a US public school and I learned nearly nothing about history. Hell, I often misplace the US states. And I got a good grade in my social studies courses. History is hard to teach because it's hard to make people care. Most Koreans I met have a much better grasp of their national history than I do. Also, the Language Log blog discussed how its easy to cheat the survey results for press.