SHINee's Jonghyun Criticizes Controversial South Korean Government Policies

SHINee’s Jonghyun has taken to his Twitter to vocalize his opinion on controversial topics concerning government matters.

He wrote, “Lowering the starting school age to promote childbirth…producing a government issued textbook… With such policies, I am losing my confidence to have children who can grow into adults with healthy minds and bodies. I am not saying I will not have children. I am saying it is getting scarier to have children in the future now.”

He is referring to two big, controversial issues in South Korea. First, the South Korean government stated that students will be taught history through a government issued textbook starting from 2017. Many are criticizing the decision stating that President Park Geun Hye is returning education to the country’s authoritarian past. This decision was made following controversy over how to teach history to the children and how to characterize the nation’s hard journey toward democracy. Although there are many issues governing the way history is presented in current textbooks, many are protesting that having a government issued history textbook will cause embarrassment to the nation as they will be following an education system similar to North Korea.

In addition, the South Korean government is also considering lowering the entrance age into elementary school for children on the basis that such a decision will help youth gain employment and raise Korea’s low birth rate. The current entrance age into school is six years. The government is considering lowering this number. With the average age of graduates entering their first jobs with the current school system rising, the ruling party made the connection that the occurrence of late marriages and low fertility is consequentially decreasing. In order to attack this problem, the party wants to lower the minimum school entrance age so that the youth will be able get a job sooner, allowing them to then be able marry and have kids sooner as well. This plan was proposed by the Saenuri Party.

What is your opinion over Jonghyun’s stance on such matters?

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