Schools forced to teach state-authored history

South Korea plans to compel secondary schools to use a single state-authored history textbook from the school year of 2017 with the aim of teaching students the "right history".

The Education Ministry on Monday issued an administrative measure to force the use of a state-designated book on history for middle and high school students from 2017.

Now, secondary school chiefs can choose one among eight history books printed by private publishers, which are required to win approval from the government. Primary schools employ a single state-authored book.