Both domestic and foreign historians have asked the government to halt its request for textbook revisions, which they see as a detrimental move to education’s independence from politics.

More than 600 historians are saying that the Education Ministry’s recommendation that modern history textbooks be revised suppresses academic and ideological freedom.

The historians claim the Korean government is trying to rewrite history textbooks to suit its own taste.

They called on the ministry to respect the achievements of historians, guarantee education’s political neutrality, and stop pressuring publishers and authors to make unnecessary revisions.