1.  The Government of the Republic of Korea appreciates that whilst on the whole the accounts in the 
Japanese high school history textbooks, which have recently passed screening by the Japanese government, 
have been maintained intact, corrections have been made to some of the distorted descriptions.

 
2.  However, the ROK government expresses concern that some  Japanese high school history textbooks 
include distorted accounts of the history of neighboring countries, failing to reflect a true recognition of 
history.

 
3.  The ROK Government believes that learning lessons from the past is essential if we are to truly move 
toward the future.  In this connection, the ROK government believes that it is needed to take as a basis of 
history education historical perception as contained in the "Joint Declaration on a new ROK-Japan 
Partnership for the 21st Century" adopted in 1998 as well as in the "Special Statement on the 50th 
Anniversary of the End of World War II" made by then Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Tomiichi Murayama in 
1995.

 
4.  The ROK government will continue to endeavor to ensure that a true account of past history between
Korea and Japan is achieved through such means as the activities of the Korea-Japan Joint History 
Research Committee, established in March 2002 following the agreement reached between the leaders of 
Korea and Japan.

            Spokesperson of the Task Force Team on the Issue of Distorted Japanese History Textbooks