The military’s textbook on spiritual warfare that used Dokdo as a disputed territory completed revisions in just 8 months.

Reviewing all defense ministry departments… Identifying several other errors,
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Defense Ministry Psychological Operations Basic Textbook
[Yonhap News Agency file photo],
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, ‘ (Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Ji-heon = The Ministry of National Defense has released a revised military psychological operations textbook after being criticized for labeling Dokdo as a disputed territory and not including Dokdo on the map of the Korean Peninsula.’,
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, ‘ The Ministry of National Defense announced on the 1st that it has completed the revision of the “Psychological Operations Basic Textbook,” stating that it conducted a comprehensive review process, including reviewing errors such as Dokdo’s description and depictions.’,
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, ‘ It further explained, “From January to March, all departments of the Ministry of National Defense participated in the reviewing process, identifying errors and conducting a total of four external agency reviews and face-to-face discussions to validate key points.”‘,
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, ‘ The description regarding Dokdo has been significantly revised. The Ministry of National Defense stated, “The mention of Dokdo as a ‘territorial dispute’ has been removed, and it now includes a separate description emphasizing that Dokdo is the inherent territory of the Republic of Korea, and that there can be no territorial dispute, reflecting the government’s position and our military’s determination to defend it.”‘,
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, ‘ Dokdo has been added to 11 locations on the map of the Korean Peninsula where it was previously not depicted, following the notation style of the “Republic of Korea National Atlas” published by the Korea National Geographic Information Institute.’,
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, ‘ In terms of the South Korea-Japan relationship, the previous version only mentioned aiming for future cooperation and a mutually beneficial relationship based on trust restoration. The revised edition added a statement that the situation will be dealt with firmly and sternly regarding distorted historical perceptions and unjust territorial claims regarding Dokdo by some Japanese political leaders.’,
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, ‘ The initial description of President Syngman Rhee emphasizing him as a leader who prevented the spread of communism through wisdom and political decisions, which sparked controversy, has now removed the evaluative term “wisdom.”‘,
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, ‘ The textbook has also included more content on the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea, which North Korea continues to attempt to neutralize. The new textbook explicitly states, “The NLL is a maritime boundary line that we must protect.”‘,
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, ‘ The reference to North Korea using Kim Il Sung’s praising song as the “national anthem” has been removed. The term “national anthem” could inadvertently imply recognition of North Korea as a country.’,
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, ‘ It was revealed that the previous textbook also contained errors in terms of other terminology and numerical figures.’,
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, ” Errors such as mislabeling the Korea-U.S. Military Commission (MC) as the Korea-U.S. Military Commission Meeting, and incorrectly stating that the 2023 ‘Korea-UN Member Countries Defense Ministers’ Meeting’ was the ‘ASEAN Expanded Defense Ministers’ Meeting,’ were identified and corrected.”,
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, ‘ The economic growth rate of South Korea in 2021 was 4.3%, but the previous textbook incorrectly stated it as 4.1%, and the number of times the Battle of Baengma Plateau changed hands was mistakenly reported as 24 times instead of the correct 14 times.’,
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View of Dokdo
[Yonhap News Agency file photo],
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, ‘ The Ministry of National Defense faced embarrassment after distributing the textbook to frontline troops in December last year, as the part mentioning, “The Korean Peninsula is surrounded by several powerful countries such as China, Russia, and Japan, who are sharply confronting each other,” and warning of potential military conflicts due to territorial disputes such as Dokdo, sparked the greatest controversy.’,
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, ‘ At that time, the Ministry of National Defense stated, “From the technical perspective, the subject referred to as ‘these countries'” and clarified that the description was about neighboring countries making various claims about territories, not that South Korea recognizes Dokdo as a territory in dispute, causing further controversy.’,
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, ‘ Following President Yoon Seok-yeol’s reprimand and instructions to correct the issue, the Ministry of National Defense acknowledged the seriousness of the shortcomings and recalled all textbooks distributed to frontline units.’,
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, ‘ The Ministry of National Defense issued a warning to two individuals including the then responsible director of the publication and imposed a cautionary action on two civil servants who were in charge. Warnings and cautions are recorded in personnel files but are not disciplinary actions.’,
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, ‘ jk@yna.co.kr’,
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