韩国政府或收回对历史教科书的控制权

South Korea’s government may take back control over school history textbooks from private publishers next month, the education minister said, as debate over the region’s past heats up ahead of the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the second world war.

韩国教育部表示，韩国政府下月可能从民间出版社手中收回对学校历史教科书的控制权。目前，在人们即将迎来日本二战战败70周年之际，围绕东亚历史展开的辩论正在升温。

“History should be taught in one way to avoid division of the people,” Hwang Woo-yea told the Yonhap national news agency, in remarks published on Wednesday. “At the moment, since there are various history textbooks, there can be confusion.”

在周三发表的讲话中，韩国教育部长黄伍延(Hwang Woo-yea)向韩国国家通讯社韩联社(Yonhap)表示：“历史教育应避免分裂人民。目前，历史教科书五花八门，可能存在着（认识上的）混乱。”

Mr Hwang — a trusted associate of President Park Geun-hye, who has given him the additional title of deputy prime minister — said that he would not rule out the reintroduction of a single, state-provided history textbook “if necessary”.

黄伍延说，他不排除这种可能性，即在“必要情况下”，重新推出由政府提供的单一历史教科书。黄伍延是韩国总统朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)信赖的副手，朴槿惠还任命他兼任韩国副总理。

The government’s position on the subject will be announced next month, following a 20-month review by the education ministry that was launched in the wake of a controversy over a supposedly misleading textbook.

韩国政府下月将宣布其在这个问题上的立场。此前，韩国教育部展开了长达20个月的评估。这一评估是在一本据认为有误导性的教科书引起争议后启动的。

Government control over the school history syllabus was asserted under military rule in 1974, and ended in 2010. Since then, schools have been free to choose between a range of books produced by private publishers, which must first be approved by the education ministry.

韩国政府对学校历史教学大纲的控制是在1974年军事统治时期确立的，2010年废止。此后，学校可在民间出版社编制的各种教科书当中自由选择，但这些教科书首先必须得到韩国教育部的批准。

The prospect of next month’s final report bringing a return to a single, government-determined history syllabus has sparked strong opposition from liberal opposition politicians, who say it would restrict the diversity of views central to a strong democracy.

下月的最终评估报告有可能使韩国回到由政府确定的单一历史教学大纲的时代，这一前景引发了自由派反对党政治人士的强烈反对。这些人士表示，这么做将对强大民主制所必需的观点多样性造成限制。

Yoon Gwan-seok, a member of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said Mr Hwang’s remarks hinted at a “political move” that would divorce South Korea from the standard practice in advanced countries, and leave it with a similar system to North Korea, Russia and Vietnam. Ms Park’s supposed intolerance of dissent has been a favourite theme for her opponents.

韩国反对党新民主政治联盟(New Politics Alliance for Democracy)成员Yoon Gwan-seok表示，黄伍延的言论暗示着一种“政治举措”，将导致韩国背离发达国家的标准做法，使韩国体制向朝鲜、俄罗斯和越南看齐。某些人眼中朴槿惠对异见的不容忍，一直是其反对者喜欢谈论的话题。

History education has long been a fraught subject in east Asia — particularly since the 2012 election as Japanese prime minister of Shinzo Abe, who stands accused in Beijing and Seoul of playing down Japan’s aggressive acts during its early-20th century colonial expansion.

在东亚，历史教育长期以来一直是个争议不断的话题，特别是在2012年安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)当选日本首相之后。中国和韩国对安倍淡化日本在20世纪初殖民扩张时期的侵略行为提出了谴责。

Mr Abe has called for education to avoid “self-torturing views of history”, and it emerged in April that textbook publishers have pared back descriptions of atrocities such as the sexual enslavement of Korean women — a development that prompted Seoul to summon the Japanese ambassador.

安倍一直呼吁教育要避免“自虐史观”。今年4月有消息称，日本教科书出版社已删减了对日本战争暴行（比如强征朝鲜半岛慰安妇）的描述——这一事件导致韩国政府召见了日本驻韩大使。