TEXTBOOKS IN BRAZIL

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Halfway around the world in Brazil, demand is rising to learn about South Korea's education and the IT industry. However, textbooks being used in Brazil often carry outdated information about South Korea. South Korea has set up a research group to correct such errors. Let's take a look

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Brazilian textbooks are on display in a Sao Paulo bookstore. It has been found that most of the textbooks carry outdated information about South Korea. A geography textbook labels the body of water between South Korea and Japan as the Sea of Japan, not the East Sea. Regarding its rapid economic development, the textbooks name South Korea as one of the five "Asian Tigers," along with Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Apparently, it originated from a 30-year-old expression that included South Korea as one of the four "Asian Dragons." There are some ten kinds of textbooks in Brazil. Some of them carry photos of downtown Seoul from the 1980s and economic indices drawn up about a decade ago. The South Korean consulate general in Sao Paulo has launched a research organization tasked with finding and fixing such errors and promoting correct knowledge of South Korea.

[Soundbite] KIM HAK-YOO(SOUTH KOREAN CONSUL GENERAL TO SAO PAULO) : "It's not only that there are few mentions of South Korea, but they are also outdated. We felt the need to correct them. Textbook revisions will be initiated and led by Brazilian academics and students."

[Soundbite] (BRAZILIAN PROFESSOR OF INT'L RELATIONS) : "We need to learn from South Korea's development and its current reality. That is why we have monthly meetings to correct errors."

The research group will send a list of corrected information to Brazilian media outlets, publishing companies and schools by late this year.