The Significance of Recovering the Remains of Korean War Fallen Soldiers and Instructional Applications in History Education

This study aims to explore the historical educational implications that therecovery of Korean War casualties may have on changing perceptions of theKorean War, and based on this, to propose the directions that war history education should pursue. The findings are as follows. First, the recovery of the remains of Korean War casualties integrates national veterans’ affairs with human security, recognizing individuals sacrificed in war not as tools of the state but as precious human lives. This contributes to enhancing the educational values of respect for life and respect for human dignity.<br/> Next, an examination of the changes from the First National Curriculum to the 2022 Revised Curriculum shows that the representations of the “6·25 War” in the national curriculum has moved away from the anti-communist and adversarial perspective that persisted for about fifty years, and has shifted toward emphasizing peaceful coexistence beginning with the Sixth Curriculum. This shift was reflected in “history” textbook narratives from the era of the Seventh Curriculum onward, strengthening the tendency to understand the war in terms of human security. For example, textbooks highlight not only the day the war broke out but also the day the fighting ceased, and describe the tragedies that occurred due to delays in the armistice negotiations from the viewpoint of respect for life and human dignity. Photographic materials also include not only the remains of South Korean soldiers but also the bodies of enemy soldiers, thereby revealing that the reality of war is the tragedy of human lives being lost. In addition, textbooks present the number of casualties in concrete figures while simultaneously prompting learners to sense the existence of the many individual “people” behind the statistics—an aspect that mere numerical data may overlook.<br/> These changes in the national curriculum and textbook narratives indicate that the purpose of war history education is shifting from a national security orientation to one centered on respect for life and human dignity. Ultimately, such a shift is expected to encourage deeper reflection among learners on the tragedy of war and the necessity of peace.