The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History was opened without broad consultation and with the historical view focused on national success. As the Museum was hastily opened, exhibitions are deficient of contents. The most serious problem is the...
The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History was opened without broad consultation and with the historical view focused on national success. As the Museum was hastily opened, exhibitions are deficient of contents. The most serious problem is the historical view of the Museum. The initiators of the Museum have claimed that it is important to compile and convey Korean history with a “balanced view” and that the exhibitions in the Museum reflect this.
However, the contents of the exhibitions are problematic. There are some discrepancies between the contents in the exhibition and the guide book. At a glance, the exhibitions have the appearance of conveying the results of an objective study of modern Korean history, but the historical context is different according to the arrangement of the selected exhibits and the facts. The same problem is seen in the organization and placement of the exhibited items. Also, there is a problem with the arrangement of the exhibits. There is a lack of accurate historical continuity between the establishment of the R.O.K and the U.S. Army Military Government in Korea, nor between the May 16th Coup and Park Jeong Hee’s government.
Above all, the Museum does not actually show the relationship between state violence and human rights issues and the exhibits should show the pain of the victims if the Museum claims to deal with industrialization and democratization in a balanced way.