Presidential Memoir and Opposition Figure's Book on Middle School's Summer Reading List Sparks Parent Backlash

A middle school in Seoul has decided to revise its summer reading recommendation list after facing protests from parents for including a book by a Democratic Party politician and an autobiographical essay by President Lee Jae-myung.

The middle school, located in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, distributed the "summer subject-based recommended reading list" to students during its closing ceremony on the 21st.

The list contained about 60 books selected by teachers across 14 subjects, including ethics, Korean, math, and social studies. Among them, the social studies recommendations included "1020 Geuk-uga Onda" (The 1020s Far-Right is Coming) and "Na-ui Son-nyeong-gong Da-i-eo-ri" (My Boy Worker Diary).

"The 1020s Far-Right is Coming" deals with the phenomenon of teenagers and young adults in their 20s moving to the political right and its background. The author is Jung Min-chul, a vice chairman of the policy committee of the Democratic Party.

Another recommended book, "My Boy Worker Diary," is an autobiographical essay by President Lee Jae-myung.

The book compiles diaries written by President Lee over a 10-year period, from his days working as a young factory worker at age 16 to his time at the Judicial Research and Training Institute.

The school explained that there were educational reasons for selecting the two books.

A school official stated that regarding "The 1020s Far-Right is Coming," they judged it necessary to guide students, noting recent incidents such as the Baejae High School controversy and the uncritical use of "Ilbe slang" by students.

The official added that the educational value of the contents for students was considered a priority over the author's political background.

As for President Lee Jae-myung's "My Boy Worker Diary," the school explained it was recommended with the intention of letting students learn about the journey of a person who worked as a young laborer in a difficult family environment and later became a provincial governor and president.

However, after the recommended reading list was made public, protests from some parents reportedly followed.

Complaints were filed with the school, questioning why the school would recommend a book by a politician from a specific party and whether it is appropriate to tell students to read a book by the incumbent president.

As the controversy persisted, the school ultimately decided to review the entire recommended reading list again.

In a school notice sent to parents today, the school stated, "We have received opinions and concerns from parents regarding the appropriateness of certain books, and we are taking this matter very seriously."

(Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Lee Dain | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.