“No martial law troops, only armed citizen troops”… Elementary school textbooks contain poor descriptions of May 18.

On the 13th, the Chonnam National University May 18 Research Institute held a discussion session on the theme of 'Questioning the scene of May 18 education and textbooks' at Chonnam National University in Buk-gu, Gwangju, Jeollanam-do.

Kim Hee-song, a professor at the May 18 Research Institute, announced the results of an analysis of eight types of social studies textbooks for sixth grade elementary school students.

Professor Kim pointed out, “Only two out of eight types of textbooks specified the fact of martial law troops firing, but the appearance of citizen troops was included in six types,” adding, “It does not sufficiently explain the causal relationship between the violent suppression of martial law troops and citizens’ resistance.”

It was also analyzed that content dealing with citizens' autonomy and solidarity activities was lacking.

There was only one textbook that included community activities such as rice ball sharing and blood donation, and only two textbooks that mentioned citizen autonomy.

Professor Kim emphasized, “Gwangju citizens only appear as objects of violence and are not described as subjects of autonomy and solidarity,” and added, “May 18 was an experience of democracy in which citizens ran their own communities against state violence.”

Lee Dong-yeop, a teacher at Gongju Uidang Elementary School, pointed out errors in the photo description in the textbook and the sequence of events.

This teacher pointed out, "Some textbooks described photos of Chonnam National University student protests taken before May 18 as scenes of students fighting against martial law forces, but the troops in the photos were riot police," and pointed out, "Students may misunderstand the process of the protest by using photos from different viewpoints and situations."

In the text, a case was also presented in which it was described as if martial law troops were deployed after large-scale protests occurred in Gwangju.

He said, “Martial law troops were already deployed to universities, including Chonnam National University, due to the expansion of martial law on May 17,” and “the explanation that martial law troops were sent when protests broke out does not fit with historical facts.”

This teacher said, “It is difficult for an elementary school teacher who teaches multiple subjects to teach while discovering and correcting these errors one by one,” and urged, “Historical facts must be strictly checked during the textbook writing and certification process.”