Japan’s Controversial Textbooks: A Call for Correction on Dokdo Claims

Translation result

The government has demanded corrections to newly approved Japanese high school textbooks that baselessly claim Dokdo is Japanese territory.

On the 24th, Seoul issued a strong protest and called for immediate revisions after Japan approved high school textbooks that distort historical facts to reflect a Japan-centered perspective.

The government lodged particular objection to Tokyo’s repeated approval of textbooks that include unfounded claims over Dokdo—a territory that is indisputably Korean by history, geography and international law—and made clear it will not accept any illegitimate Japanese assertions regarding the islets.

That day, Seoul summoned Hirotaka Matsuo, the Chargé d’Affaires at the Embassy of Japan in Korea, to the Foreign Ministry building in Jongno, Seoul.

The government also expressed deep regret that the textbooks contain distorted historical narratives, including language that minimizes the coercion behind Japan’s wartime sexual slavery and forced labor, and urged Japan to approach history education in line with the apologies and expressions of remorse it has previously offered.

The government said that building a forward-looking Korea–Japan relationship requires a correct historical understanding among future generations, and called on the Japanese government to confront the past and adopt a more responsible stance in history education.