The Change of the Description on the Opening Ports of 19th Century in the High School Textbooks of Korean History till the 2nd Curriculum Period after 1945 in Korea

The process of reaching the Treaty between Korea and Japan in 1876 is briefly described focusing on facts at 『Guksa Gyobon(Textbook of Korean History)』 published by Jindan-hakhoe in 1946, without the mentions on the problems of the treaty such as consular jurisdiction and allowing the inland survey due to lack of research. Paradoxically as a result, it is somewhat free from the distorted perceptions that Japan forced Korea to open ports. And 『Jungdeung Guksa(Korean History for Middle School)』 by Choi Nam-Sun in 1947 is roughly the same as that.The high school textbooks of Korean History of the Syllabus Period became much simpler in contents due to the principles of cultural history-oriented learning, and the level of contents varies greatly from textbook to textbook. More details are written in the middle school textbook, and the term ‘Gaeguk(開國; opening the country)’, which had originally meant the opening of a new dynasty, began to be used to refer to opening ports in connection with ‘Sweguk(鎖國; closing the country)’ meaning the policy of prohibiting trade and diplomacy with other countries.In the 1st Curriculum Period, the description on the treaties of Korea between Japan in 1876 and other countries in 1880s is not much different from that of 『Guksa Gyobon』. And the narrations for the treaties with Western powers like U.S., Britain and France are commonly appearing immediately after that for 1876 treaty with Japan in all textbooks. The description by the frame of Japan’s coercion of opening ports to Korea is not strongly observed. But overall, this frame seems to be based on the premise.In the 2nd Curriculum Period, the parts on the opening ports became much more detailed and diverse reflecting the accumulated research of Korean history in the 1960s, including Consular jurisdiction, tariff-free allowance, more detailed treaty signing processes with U.S. or Britain and so on. Especially the treaty of Korea and U.S. in 1882 is described from the perspective of Korean side, previously focused on Chinese recommendation. But the view of the compulsory opening ports by Japan still maintained, and from the standpoint of highlighting Japan’s aggression, somewhat untrue narratives are also beginning to emerge.