Gyeonggi Superintendent Ahn Min-suk: Demands to Cancel Hwang Hyun-phil's Lecture Are 'Lame'

Gyeonggi Superintendent of Education Ahn Min-suk criticized the controversy surrounding historian Hwang Hyun-phil's lecture at the provincial education office on October 29, calling demands to cancel the lecture trapped in a specific ideology and unwilling to diversity simply "lame."

In a post titled "Completed the Special Lecture by Teacher Hwang Hyun-phil" uploaded to Facebook yesterday, Superintendent Ahn stated, "For a country that suffered a fratricidal war after a clash between the left and right, we need history education that speaks the truth without leaning toward any ideology."

He pointed out, "History requires interpretation from various perspectives. Nevertheless, indiscriminate stigmatization against the film 'The Assassin(s)', which depicts the press suppression of the time starting from curiosity about the shooting of First Lady Yuk Young-soo, paradoxically shows why modern and contemporary history education is necessary."

He also expressed his views on the cause of the Korean War, which has sparked controversy over Hwang's historical bias.

Superintendent Ahn emphasized, "The Korean War began with North Korea's invasion of the South, but research questioning the responsibility of major powers regarding its origins has continued even in American academia. The aftereffects of military dictatorship, which did not tolerate differing opinions, must now be overcome."

Explaining the reason why the lecture proceeded as scheduled despite calls from some quarters for its cancellation, he stated, "Yielding to outdated demands is kneeling before injustice. That is why I firmly rejected the backward demands."

On the afternoon of October 28, Hwang took the podium as a lecturer for the "2026 Gyeonggi Education Great Transformation Renowned Figures Invitation Lecture Series" hosted by the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, delivering a one-hour lecture on the history of armed anti-Japanese struggle.

Ahead of the lecture, conservative parents' groups, teachers' organizations, and political circles including the People Power Party in the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly raised controversies over Hwang's past lecture content regarding bias and demanded the lecture be canceled.

When previous bias controversies arose over remarks he made in a past lecture to the effect that "(the Korean War) was a war provoked by the United States," Hwang explained through his YouTube channel that it was "devilish editing that cut out the context."

During the previous day's lecture at the provincial education office, he also refuted the claims, saying, "I have never once heard from the historical academia that my lectures contain errors or are wrong."


(Photo courtesy of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.