The National Institute of Korean History has begun selecting writers to author state-designated Korean history textbooks for middle and high school students.
 
The move comes after the Education Ministry and the institute closed applications for the writing project at 6 p.m. Monday. The ministry and the institute said a double-digit number of people had applied.
 
The institute had posted a recruitment notice on its Web site after deciding to openly recruit 25 out of the total 36 writers who will produce the state-designated books. A senior official of the institute, Jin Jae-gwan, said the number of applicants exceeded 25.
 
The institute plans to complete the selection process by this Friday and finalize the group by next Friday.
 
An official of the Education Ministry said that next Friday the institute will unveil details regarding the group of writers, including the exact number of people who applied.