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I. Introduction
The Chosun Ilbo's editorial of October 25, 1998 denouncing
Professor Choi Jang Jip's revisionist view of Korean history, alleging historical distortion of fundamental facts, followed by JoongAng lbo's November 19, 1998 interview and in-depth article on Professor Choi, in which his views are presented in a more positive light, highlight the ideological spectrum of Korean war and preKorean historiography.
The Chosun Ilbo began the fracas by citing Professor Choi for referring to Kim Il-sung's 1950 invasion of the South as an "historic decision," characterizing the North Korean leader as "more of a nationalist than a communist," the first phase of the Korean war as "a war of national liberation," U.S. intervention as "pre-cooked" and crossing the 38th parallel as "aggressive expansionism."' Some of the charges are petty, some are ideologically motivated, and some are just plain wrong. For example, in the first category, an historic decision is normally neither good or bad. Its historic character stems from its impact and significance in political economic and social terms on subsequent events. With respect to Kim 11-sung's "historic decision" to launch an invasion of the south, its subsequent impact on Korea, both North and South and in terms of reversing previous U.S. policy alone, justifies such a qualification. However, this in no way alters the fact that the decision has proved to be "on the wrong side of history."
Further, according to the conservative newspaper, the acceptance of Professor Choi's views would call into question the legitimacy of the Republic of Korea itself, and therefore, "this newer [revisionist] historic view must be criticized as a distortion of the facts and exposed as a open-sided view which must be dismissed because it poses a fundamental challenge to the very legitimacy and raison d'etre of the Republic of Korea."2 By contrast, JoongAng Ilbo concluded that the Korean people are entitled to the opportunity of drawing their own conclusions regarding the merits and demerits of Professor Choi's arguments, without being subjected to pontification by the press as well.3
Whatever the validity of the facts and arguments presented in Professor Choi's writings, the tendentious reasoning behind the assertions in the Chosun Ilbo editorial, as well as the factual basis of the argument itself, must be seriously questioned. Indeed, this...