History Teachers Employment Exam Controversy in South Korea…3 of 11 Questions are About Socialism, also China

2019-12-9, Chosun Ilbo (Translation)

Choi Seong-hoon (30, pseudonym), who wants to be a high school history teacher was at a loss after seeing the examination paper for hiring teachers on November 23, 2019.  A large number of socialist-related questions that really had not been asked in the past were on the exam. Mr. Choi said, “This is my 4th test, and this is the first time that so many socialism questions appeared.” [Truncated]

Internet community sites gathered by aspiring history teachers continued to criticize, “Is the employment exam changing according to the preference of the current administration?” [Truncated]

Question #1 is about writing down the name of the group that commanded the Wonsan [currently in North Korea] general strike in 1929 and the labor movement line that formed the labor union from below illegally, not through reform in the 1930s. The answer was known as the “confederation of Wonsan trade unions” (‘원산노동연합회) and “revolutionary workers’ union (혁명적 노동조합).” [Note: not necessarily the organization’s own translation]

Question #7 was about Wang Mang’s (King of China’s Xin Dynasty 8-23) “nationalization of land” (토지국유제).  It is a system that nationalizes land and prohibits sales/purchase, and said to be the “first communism.”  In particular, the linking of the Moon Jae-in government’s “public land concept” (토지공개념) with the system of nationalization of land also are appearing in academic circles recently.

Question #9 is about China’s Deng Xiaoping’s “Namshun Ganghwa” [ ‘남순강화(南巡講話)] in 1992. At the time, Deng Xiaoping insisted on the so-called “four basic principles,” which must be kept at the same time as reform and opening. The answers are known as “the perspective of socialism,” “the perspective of the dictatorship of the proletariat,” “the perspective of the Communist Party’s guidance,” and “the perspective of Marxism/Leninism/Maoism.”

Question #8 is also controversial among the [history teacher] candidates. They must name the French philosopher and communist Simon de Beauvoir’s book title “Second Sex,” which viewed women from socialist perspective, and describe the contemporary view of the feminist movement in the past.  [truncated]

Source:  https://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2019/12/09/2019120900117.html