From global commitments to national realities: mapping global citizenship education in South Korea’s national curriculum reform

This article contributes to debates on monitoring Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 4.7.1 by examining both the extent of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) integration and the sociopolitical dynamics shaping it. Using South Korea’s 2022 Revised National Curriculum as a case, the study applies a weighted content analysis across 12 core and 4 elective middle school subjects. The findings indicate that approximately 31% of achievement standards include GCED-related elements, with uneven distribution across subjects and themes. GCED content is most prominent in environmental education and social studies, but limited in mathematics and science. Among the six thematic areas, global citizenship and sustainable development are widely represented, while human rights, peace, and gender equality appear less frequently. The limited presence of gender equality reflects public debates and stakeholder pressures during curriculum reform. By moving beyond self-reported data and policy rhetoric, the study demonstrates how curriculum texts can function as systematic indicators for SDG 4.7.1 monitoring, offering both a methodological approach and empirical insight into the tensions between global commitments and national curriculum reforms.