Abstract:

Objectives:
Discussion of unification has emerged in the Republic of Korea as a political issue. Institutional needs for the expansion of the unification education are being actively discussed in the country. With the adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution on ‘Situation of Human Rights in the DPRK’ and the publication of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) in 2014 public opinion of the international community to improve human rights in North Korea and the need for peace and stability in the Korean peninsula has increased. Both national and international consensus for the need for unification heightened the importance of improvement of education that can better serve the situation. According to the '2014 Korea Unification Education Survey Report', South Korean students were found to be interested in knowing about the ‘life in North Korea’. Teachers and students showed a high level of satisfaction about using multimedia in unification education. Using multimedia resources were also found to be the most preferred form of unification education. The goals of unification education are 'a view of future-oriented unification', 'a sound perception of national security', and 'balanced perception of North Korea’. In this study, multimedia contents of unification education were analyzed on the basis of the needs of teachers and students in accordance with the goals of unification education. This study attempts to provide a future direction of unification education based on human rights framework.

Method:
107 Multimedia contents of Institute for Unification Education (www.uniedu.go.kr) and Korean Educational Development Institute (www.tongil.moe.go.kr) were analyzed. Content analysis and Chi-square analysis were used for 107 multimedia resources divided by 21 school IPTV and 86 general video (non-school IPTV). Upload spaces, publisher, year of creation, running time, target, genre and perception of North Korea (positive/ negative/ both) were investigated. In order to analyze the sub-tasks, 80 categories were constructed based on 2014 Unification Education Guide in School. Chi-square analysis was used in order to verify the differences in year of creation and the perception of North Korea.

Results:
Analysis is currently in progress.

Conclusion:
In order to establish capacity and competence of unification for students, contents of unification education should be developed based on universal values of human rights. Establishing a balanced perception of North Korea through a human rights approach will better promote national consensus on unification, breaking through the long existing political and ideological debate. What comes after unification is of the utmost importance. A cohesive and inclusive society will only be achieved through a change in paradigm – one that respects human rights of all.

Keywords:

IPTV unification education, multimedia contents, human rights.