Koreans Unaware of Teacher’s Day Origin

사진 확대

According to a survey, 8 out of 10 Koreans did not know that ‘King Sejong’s Nassin Day’ was ‘Teacher’s Day’.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Cultural Center Association announced the results of an online survey on King Sejong’s birthday and the public’s thoughts on his achievements from April 29 to May 5 to celebrate the first “King Sejong’s Day” since it was designated as a national anniversary last year.

A total of 1,077 people participated in the survey, which was conducted by distributing respondents by gender, age, and region.

According to the survey, 76.3% of the people said they did not know “when King Sejong’s birthday is” or “what is the relationship between King Sejong’s birthday and Teacher’s Day”.

The percentage of respondents who said they knew that May 15 was the “King Sejong’s Day” was the highest in their 60s at 31.5%, and the lowest in their teens at 16.7%. On average, 22.6% of those in their 20s and 30s who experienced youth language and culture policies were surveyed.

Since last year, 78.7% of the respondents said they did not know that King Sejong Nasin Day was designated as a legal anniversary. In other words, about eight out of 10 Koreans only know May 15 as Teachers’ Day.

According to data from the National Archives of Korea, Teachers’ Day began in 1958 as a volunteer service to take care of a teacher suffering from a disease at a girls’ high school in Chungnam.

May 26, 1964, was celebrated as “Geunsa Day”, and from 1965, May 15, “King Sejong’s Nassin Day,” was set as Teacher’s Day, meaning that teachers’ organizations were at the center to imitate the true teacher of the Korean government.

The survey asked about King Sejong’s achievements, including “Do you know the day King Sejong was born,” “Who gave 130 days of maternity leave to a female slave,” and “Who conducted a large-scale poll on the tax system in the rice fields?”

In addition, the survey also confirmed the public’s thoughts on King Sejong’s achievements, such as encouraging agriculture, maternity leave, nurturing talent, conducting the first public opinion poll, and improving science levels.

In 1426, King Sejong increased the maternity leave of a slave, a female slave working for a government office, from 7 days to 100 days, and added 30 days of the month of giving birth to a baby in 1430, giving a total of 130 days of maternity leave, and in 1434, even the husband of a female slave who gave birth to a baby.

According to a survey on whether they are aware of King Sejong’s maternity leave policy, 60.7% of the people said they knew exactly that it was King Sejong’s achievement, and 39.3% said incorrectly that it was the policy of other kings such as Jeongjo and Yeongjo.

In addition, King Sejong conducted the first poll of 170,000 people nationwide in 1430 asking for their opinions on the tax system for rice paddies and fields at the time, with 98,657 in favor and 74,148 in opposition.

Fifty-eight percent of the people were aware of this, and 42 percent were not aware of it. By age, people in their 50s and 60s were well aware of the average of 66.2%, but only 36.3% of teenagers knew that it was Sejong’s achievement.

In addition, 63.8% of the people are aware of the agricultural promotion policy, which compiled the “Farming Direct Theory” among King Sejong’s achievements and systematically announced regional farming methods and seasonal crop cultivation methods, and 82.2% of the people are aware of the policy to cultivate talents who set up Jiphyeonjeon and gave “Saga Reading,” a special vacation for capable scholars to read out of work.

84.0% said they were aware of the policy of raising the level of science by installing the observatory between astronomical observatories and the comprehensive scientific research institute’s Heukgyeonggak and creating a reverse method called “Chiljeongsan” that calculates the movement of celestial bodies.

Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said, “King Sejong’s policies, which gave female government slaves 130 days of maternity leave and conducted large-scale polls on the land tax system, all came from loving the people. Considering the situation at that time, I really respect it, he said. “I hope that this survey will further publicize King Sejong’s achievements and that May 15th King Sejong’s Nassin Day” will be a day for the whole nation to celebrate and honor together.”