Institutional Responses to History Destruction Movements Linked with Political Power: The Establishment of a Unified Historical Association and the ‘National Advisory Committee on History Policy’

Since the mid-2010s, the second wave of pseudo-historiography has significantly intensified its ties with political factions. This collusion has resulted in a series of what may be termed “historical destruction movements,” including the termination of the Northeast Asian History Map project, the shutdown of the Early Korea Project at the Harvard Korea Institute, the systematic obstruction of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Gaya Tumuli, and the politicized compilation of works such as The History of Gimhae and The Millennial History of Jeolla.<br/>While the academic establishment focused on scholarly research, pseudo-historians seized control over historical policy and public history within the policy-making and public domains. By leveraging organized mobilization and radical collective action, they secured political recognition. This process has allowed anti-intellectual historical perceptions, which lack any scholarly merit, to exert disproportionate social influence.<br/>To address these issues, institutional enhancements in two directions are required. First, within the private sector, there is a need to establish an authoritative, unified organization that can represent the entire historical community. Second, within the government sector, a ‘National Advisory Committee on History Policy’ should be founded with the participation of professional historians. These two bodies would work in close conjunction within their respective spheres to promote the formulation and implementation of history policies grounded in academic expertise.