South Korean textbooks?

[cstaylor]

Clouds Slowly Lift in South Korea

Now, a few lines in newly approved high school textbooks credit Mr. Kim for the first time for his role in combating Japanese colonialism. The passages have fed a roiling debate here about changing relations with North Korea and the United States and about the politicization of history during the cold war.

Yeah, okay, read on:

Mr. Kim's raids prompted the Japanese to mount a major operation in the region, which eventually wiped out most of his fighters, forcing the Korean guerrilla leader to flee to Khabarovsk, in the Soviet Far East. He remained there for the duration of the war, and Kim Jong Il was born in Russia in 1942 during his exile. North Korea's hagiography of its founder is silent on these setbacks, and North Koreans are taught that Kim Jong Il was born at Mount Paektu, the legendary source of Korean civilization

Sounds familiar... didn't the exact same thing happen during the Korean War?

[Taro Toporific]

Clouds Slowly Lift in South Korea

Mr. Kim's raids prompted the Japanese to mount a major operation in the region, which eventually wiped out most of his fighters, forcing the Korean guerrilla leader to flee to Khabarovsk, in the Soviet Far East. He remained there for the duration of the war, and Kim Jong Il was born in Russia in 1942 during his exile. North Korea's hagiography of its founder is silent on these setbacks, and North Koreans are taught that Kim Jong Il was born at Mount Paektu, the legendary source of Korean civilization

Sounds familiar...

Read this piss-poor direct-translation for the revisionist history of "Dear Leader"....

Making Up Legendary Hero

Mr. Muletzin, a Moscow TV reporter, said in the documentary, "I came to know former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung in 1987 when his birthday ceremony was held in Pyongyang. Since then, I have read many documents about him available to me and interviewed people who knew him as much as possible. The more I read, the more questions I had about him,

"What struck me first was that the name, Kim Il Sung, was not his real name. He had another name. No one knew where he was born. Kim Il Sung was illiterate and the question is how could such a man climb to the top of the country in such a short period of time. How could he remain as North Korea's leader for 50 years and have his son succeed him?"

Gujiimin Gregory, a retired former Soviet Russian Army colonel, said in the documentary, "After Kim Il Sung finished a short program at Khabarovsk Infantry School, he served in the former Soviet Russian Army as the Commander of the First Korean Battalion in 1942. Mr. Kim was one of the survivors of a guerrilla troop which entered the territory of former Soviet Russia, crossing the Amur and Vsry Rivers. Mr. Kim's guerilla troops neither made any military achievement nor engaged in any battles. They had only been wandering about."

The Weekly Post - February 3 - February 9, 2003
Inside News From Japan: The Weekly Post Special:
Russian TV Documentary Recounts How North Korea Became a Terrorist Nation

[Blah Pete]

Mr. Kim's guerilla troops neither made any military achievement nor engaged in any battles. They had only been wandering about."

So, it seems Kim's contribution to the cause was getting lost.
Guess he should have tried to stay awake during that map reading course.