The National Identity Education of the 21st Century Two Koreas’ High School History Textbooks: From Ancient History to Modern History

Abstract

This article compares the national identity education of the recent high school history textbooks in the two Koreas. The 21st two Koreas’ high school history textbooks have held national identity education from the viewpoint of the primordial formation and perennial development of nation. South Korea has tried to overcome its exclusive national identity education through the 2015 curriculum revision but is still understanding nation based upon the notions of the bloodline and ethnicity. Similarly, North Korea has politically utilized the bloodline-centered notion of nation through fusing the notion of the Dangun nation into the Jeche idea since the 2013 curriculum revision. Through comparative analysis of Korean history from ancient history to modern history, this article examines the primordial and perennial discourse of nation in the two Koreas’ high school history textbooks.