Overview

• A Board of Audit and Inspection report found significant inaccuracies about Korea in textbooks from 81 countries, including claims of Russian and Spanish colonial rule.
• Eleven Korean embassies, including those in the UK, Hungary, and Laos, failed to act on correction notices issued between 2021 and 2023.
• Examples of errors include a British textbook describing Korea as a drug producer and a Spanish textbook misplacing Jeju Island as Japanese territory in 1895.
• Critics, including professor Seo Kyoung-duk, have called for a centralized task force and specialized embassy staff to address textbook inaccuracies systematically.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is under pressure to implement reforms to safeguard Korea's historical narrative and global reputation.