VANK urges “strengthening management” in response to controversy over distorted explanations of history by tourist interpreters and guides

The cyber diplomatic mission VANK (Director Park Ki-tae) called for an investigation into the actual situation and improvement of the education and management system in relation to the controversy over the distorted interpretation of history by nationally qualified tourist interpreters and guides.

According to VANK on the 20th, there have recently been cases of some guides with national certifications distorting Korean history for foreign tourists at major historical and cultural tourist attractions in Korea, such as Gyeongbokgung Palace and the War Memorial of Korea.

One guide explained that Gyeongbokgung Palace defined Joseon as a vassal state of China and that the reason Joseon resisted during the Japanese invasions of Korea was because it regarded China as its ‘father’s country.’

Another guide at the War Memorial explained that the Chinese military's participation in the Korean War was not an invasion, but an act to help Korea.

VANK was concerned that not only would the guide's commentary have an impact on foreign tourists' perception of Korean history, but that distorted information could spread through social networking services (SNS) or travel reviews after returning to the country.

Due to the nature of the guide's oral explanations, there are many cases in which no separate records are left, making post-confirmation and correction difficult. This was also cited as a reason for the need to strengthen the management and supervision system for systematic inspection and prevention.

VANK's position is that guides currently undergo a national history exam in the process of acquiring qualifications, but there is no system in place to continuously supervise and manage whether accurate interpretations are provided in the field after obtaining qualifications.

Accordingly, we requested that the Korea Tourism Organization cooperate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the National Heritage Administration, and the Korea Tourist Interpreter Guide Association to regularly inspect the status of historical interpretations at major tourist destinations and prepare measures to ensure that competency is verified even after obtaining qualifications.

He also emphasized the need to strengthen professional education on major issues such as the history of Goguryeo and Balhae, Joseon's external relations, the Japanese invasions of Korea, the Japanese colonial period, the independence movement, and the Korean War, and establish a system to verify field commentary capabilities from various angles.

In addition, in order to institutionalize this issue rather than just a one-time measure, VANK began public discussion through its own national policy proposal platform 'Ullim' and citizen legislation platform 'AI (Artificial Intelligence) Legislator'.

Director Park Ki-tae said, “Errors on overseas sites can require correction, but distorted explanations heard domestically by foreign tourists can be trusted as ‘history heard and confirmed directly in Korea.’ We need to institutionalize education, verification, and on-site support.”