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On October 25, 2023, a meeting of the Fourth Round Table of Ukrainian-Korean Cooperation in the Field of Textbook Publishing took place in Kyiv. The event was organized as a result of the cooperation of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Ukraine, the Korean Educational Center in Kyiv, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, as well as the Institute for the Modernization of Education Content. It was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, members of author groups for the preparation of school curricula for the study of history, authors of textbooks and teaching aids, teachers and methodologists.

During the opening of the event, the general director of the Directorate of School Education of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine Ihor Hvorostyany, as well as the chief specialist of the department of content of education, language policy and education of national minorities, Raisa Yevtushenko, made a welcome speech. Representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine emphasized the importance of international cooperation in the field of creation of Ukrainian school textbooks, in particular on history. It is the historical component that occupies a prominent place in the humanitarian field, and the dramatic course of modern events forces us to turn to the lessons of the past time and again. The experience of the Republic of Korea, which survived a terrible war and later successfully went through the period of post-war reconstruction, is extremely important for Ukrainian society, which protects its own right to Freedom and Independence and strives for the fastest possible development.

One of the key events of the event was a special lecture by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to Ukraine Mr. Kim Hyung Tae. First of all, Mr. Ambassador, on behalf of the government of the Republic of Korea and the Korean people, expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people in their struggle for their own statehood and independence, which were put at risk as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.

In his lecture, Mr. Ambassador outlined the main stages of development of the Republic of Korea after the end of the Korean War, and also singled out a number of leading, from his point of view, factors that contributed to the rapid and at the same time positively sustainable development of Korea. They may be relevant for Ukraine today. During a short discussion after the lecture, the deputy director of “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies Dr. Yehor Vradii asked the Ambassador's opinion about the strategy implemented by the Republic of Korea in the matter of integration of compatriots who managed to leave the territory of the DPRK and what role it plays in this process system of formal and non-formal education, textbooks and teaching aids. The participants of the Round Table were also interested in the approaches used by Korean educational colleagues during the discussion about sensitive issues of the past, the colonial experience and ways to overcome it, etc.

Senior researcher of the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, Dr. Yuliya Malienko, presented to the participants of the Round Table the main conceptual changes in the teaching of world history and the history of Ukraine in modern educational programs. It is noteworthy that, as successful examples of implementation, in particular in the part of teaching the history of the Korean War, a textbook for 11th grade students was proposed, as well as educational materials published by the Ukrainian Educational Publishing Center "Orion" authored by the director of “Tkuma” Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies Dr. Igor Shchupak.

By the way, it should be emphasized that the books of this leading publishing center, in particular “Reader” for elementary school students, were presented to Mr. Ambassador Kim Hyung Tae as an example of modern educational literature that popularizes the cultural heritage of the countries of the world, in particular the Republic of Korea.

Professor Kostyantyn Bakhanov of the Lviv Regional Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education presented the program of the optional course “Republic of Korea: the story of the miracle on the Han River” for students of the 10-11th grade, which was developed during 2022-2023. It allows the teacher and the student not only to better understand the phenomenon historical progress of the Republic of Korea in the 20th – at the beginning of the 21st century, the relevance of the experience of experiencing the war, overcoming its consequences, the strategy of economic and social development, but also to see the points of intersection of the history of Ukraine and Korea in different historical periods and try to creatively use the experience of the Asian country in the development our country.

In fact, the mentioned program, as well as a number of Ukrainian textbooks, are examples of modern educational tools that allow the teacher to teach to think about the past as effectively and creatively as possible, to be aware of its lessons in order to build a successful future.