Prologue: Asking Questions to the Past

Chapter 1 Joseon at a turning point
Chapter 2 From the Korean Empire to the Republic of Korea
Chapter 3: The National Liberation Movement Ignites
Chapter 4: Split into two independent countries
Chapter 5: Industrialization and Democracy: The Faces of the South and the North

Epilogue: Beyond the 20th Century and into a New Future

1.
Reading Modern and Contemporary Korean History Through the Eyes of the Future - Overview
“Dae-han-min-guk!” Just as at the World Cup, we shout “Republic of Korea” everywhere in our lives.
Why does my heart swell with emotion every time I hear this? It's probably because the Republic of Korea is my country, and I feel united under its name.
How was the Republic of Korea created? Were Articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution—that the Republic of Korea is a democratic republic, that sovereignty resides in the people, and that all state authority emanates from the people—just given?
It is nearly impossible to imagine the Republic of Korea today in Korea 60 years ago, when liberation led to the establishment of an independent nation.
What the West took centuries to achieve in industrialization and democratization, Korea and its people achieved in just a few decades.
The 140 years of modern and contemporary Korean history prove that this is the result of the sweat, effort, joy, and tears of those who have lived up to this point.
And now no one can deny that the Republic of Korea is a democratic republic.

《A Living Textbook of Modern and Contemporary Korean History》 clearly states that democracy and republicanism are our present, achieved through long-term struggles and therefore irreversible, and thus it looks at modern and contemporary Korean history from the perspective of the democracy we have realized and the democracy we should strive for.
The purpose is to pinpoint what we have achieved throughout modern and contemporary Korean history and to clearly establish the point from which we can no longer retreat.
The recent debate surrounding the perception of modern and contemporary history still remains stuck within the left-right political framework of the 1980s, which defined the dark and bright sides of South Korea.
In particular, at a time when the historical awareness of modern and contemporary history is shifting to the issue of history textbooks and history education, such as the New Right, Textbook Forum, and the Geumseong edition approval of Korean modern and contemporary history textbooks, "A Living Korean Modern and Contemporary History Textbook" opens a new chapter in the awareness of modern and contemporary history, history education, and history textbooks in the 21st century based on its alternative characteristics.

First, it is a forum for discussion on the recognition of modern and contemporary Korean history.
Starting from the premise that the Republic of Korea is an industrialized and democratic nation, the focus was on creating a forum for open discussion by asking and guiding questions about the past from various angles.
Second, the modern and contemporary periods were understood as a consistent flow of Korean history.
For this purpose, the periodization of modern and contemporary history was changed.
While textbooks and many modern and contemporary history books divide the period into 1910, the year of the loss of national sovereignty, and 1945, this book divides the period based on the March 1st Movement and the formation of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.
The purpose is to convey a clear message about how the Republic of Korea was formed and what kind of nation it aims to become.
Third, it revolutionized the concept of 21st century Korean history textbooks.
Attempts to overcome the cliche of textbook-like formats evolved into “Living Korean History Textbook” in March 2002 and “Living World History Textbook” in October 2005.
This is the result of a seven-year effort to develop an alternative history textbook, which began with the hope that history should be alive under the name of a living textbook.


“The future is not something that will suddenly be thrown in front of us one day.
The future is something we, living today, are creating by sweating to create the future we desire.
The present we live in today is the same.
Even the present, which seems to have been given to us just like that, is filled with the sweat and tears of countless people in the process of getting here.
Studying history is the process of remembering their sweat and tears and reliving the meaning contained in their every step.

That is why modern and contemporary history, which deals with the time we live in, is all the more important.
The process of examining what we have accomplished so far, and of examining the paths we have taken and those we have not taken, is the process of exploring the new future we must create together.
“Isn’t the past the distant future?” - From the preface

2.
Understanding modern and contemporary times as a consistent stream of democracy - Periodization
《Living Textbook of Modern and Contemporary Korean History》 covers the period from the 1860s to 1987.
Instead of describing the history of the North and South equally from the perspective of Korean history, the focus was on the progress of democracy in the Republic of Korea and South Korea.

It is different from the textbooks and many modern and contemporary history books that cover modern and contemporary Korean history in terms of periodization.
While these books usually divide the period into 1910 and 1945, and describe the period thereafter as one, or by decade, or by regime, 《Living Textbook of Modern and Contemporary Korean History》 is unique in that it divides the period not by 1910, when the country lost its sovereignty, but by the March 1st Movement and the formation of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, and by the 1960s in modern history.

It is divided into five periods: until 1894, the process of seeking a new national system and abolishing the caste system; until 1919, the process of overcoming absolute monarchy and agreeing on a democratic republic; until 1945, the process of exploring the contents of a democratic republic while fighting against Japanese imperialism; until 1960, the process of considering the institutionalization of democracy and the impact of division on it; and after that, the story unfolds with a focus on the process of achieving industrialization and democratization and its characteristics.
The aim is to understand the modern and contemporary eras as a consistent flow of democracy, and to convey a clear message about how the Republic of Korea was formed as a nation-state and what kind of nation it aims to become.


3.
Asking Questions to the Past - Feature 1
"Couldn't Kim Ok-gyun and Jeon Bong-jun have worked together? Is it possible to hold Emperor Gojong responsible for the nation's downfall? Couldn't we have achieved liberation on our own? Couldn't we have avoided division? What do democracy and industrialization mean to our history?" "A Living Textbook of Modern and Contemporary Korean History" features a dedicated section at the end of each unit, beginning with the prologue, and at the end of each section, it again poses questions about the past.
The purpose is to reflect on where we stand now, the path we have taken to get to where we are today, the achievements we have made together, whether there have been any problems brought about by rapid progress, and whether there was another path other than the one that has led us to where we are today.

Studying history goes beyond a hobby to reflect on one's own life and form a perspective on oneself and the world.
‘History and Me’, reading history determines my current actions.
The question of what kind of life I will live overlaps with the question of how I will view history.
In particular, studying modern and contemporary history, which deals with the time we live in, is an act of finding out how I should live.
《A Living Textbook of Modern and Contemporary Korean History》 constantly asks questions about the past.
Through questions, we encounter the concerns and voices of the people who lived at that time.
The idea is to revive the traces of various concerns and debates about how to deal with the situation, to confront the social image that was ultimately sought to be achieved, and to revive the intention in the present even if it was not ultimately realized.


4.
Reflectively Reconstructing Modern and Contemporary Korean History - Feature 2
Rather than describing in detail what happened when, where, and what happened, the Living Textbook of Modern and Contemporary Korean History analyzes historical events from a social science and humanities perspective and reveals the lives and thoughts of the people of the time.
Based on this, we focused on restoring the networks and reflective efforts behind the events of the time.
Therefore, unlike most history books, we avoided describing it by dividing it into politics, economy, society, and culture, and instead chose to melt various fields into a larger flow.
As a result, there is a lot of content related to politics and economics, but it also deals with social and cultural issues related to everyday life.
In particular, the issue of science and technology, which has become increasingly important in modern and contemporary history, was read in connection with our lives through a separate section called 'Science and Technology and Changes in Life.'
The connection between Korean history and world history was also emphasized from the beginning.
In addition to describing the text in a world historical context, it also has separate sections such as “The World Then” which deals with the contemporary background of Korean history, “Korea and the World” which deals with the world and Korea in the world through Koreans who went out into the world and foreigners who came to Korea, and “Korea Seen from a Different Perspective” which deals with foreigners’ perceptions of Korea.


5.
A forum for debate and discussion surrounding the perception of modern and contemporary Korean history - Feature 3
There are various perspectives on modern and contemporary Korean history.
In recent years, the debate surrounding the perception of modern and contemporary Korean history has been so intense that it can be called a "civil war on the past," including the controversy surrounding the composition and activities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the controversy over the approval of modern and contemporary Korean history textbooks, and the New Right and the Textbook Forum.
Ultimately, it is a task to form a historical image of modern and contemporary Korea.
What kind of image do Koreans have of Korea?
Even if you try to picture it in life, where you rush towards your goal without having time to turn back and reflect, it is not very clear.
The recent debate surrounding the perception of modern and contemporary Korean history has aspects that reflect on existing history and seek new historical perspectives, but it has not progressed in an academic or educational manner and has not been able to break free from the existing partisan framework.

This book assumes that present-day Korea is a democratic society and an industrialized country.
That is the starting point of the discussion.
However, there may be differences of opinion on what democracy and industrialization mean, how they were achieved, and what they should aim for.
This book focuses on creating a forum for open discussion by asking questions at multiple levels and guiding people to think from various perspectives.

6.
Living Textbook, Living History - Completed Living History Textbook
Living textbooks, living history! Couldn't textbooks be treasured history books we always keep close by? Couldn't they, while reading them, evoke the feeling of being present at the very scene? Is it truly impossible to read history not as a mere historical event, but as a way to revive the voices that sought to create a better future, and to explore a new future? "Textbooks" symbolize the problems of outdated education.
Humanists have gone beyond the state and certification, beyond the banality of textbook-like formats, and have innovated the content and format of textbooks by devoting all of the values ​​and capabilities that books, as a medium, can embody.
《Living Korean Modern and Contemporary History Textbook》 is the result of a seven-year effort to develop an alternative history textbook, which began with the hope that history should be alive, following 《Living Korean History Textbook 1,2》 in March 2002 and 《Living World History Textbook 1,2》 in October 2005, under the name of a living textbook.

Living Alternative Textbooks have changed the very concept of textbooks and, above all, the landscape of textbooks.
By spreading textbooks from classrooms and school bags to various spaces, including bookstores, textbooks have truly established themselves as textbooks for a healthy civil society.
The ideal of a living alternative textbook is meaningful when it can be used not only in the classroom but also as a general education textbook that embodies social consensus and the achievements of the times.
Furthermore, while clearly targeting youth, we aim to create a textbook that lives and breathes across generations by expanding communication between adults and children through youth.