★ A viral EBS hit with over 10 million views – A compilation of EBS’s flagship humanities program “My Second Textbook” (Season 3). Begins with the question, “What were the decisive moments that shaped today’s Korea?” and introduces the central thread of “historical genes” through ten pivotal episodes.
★ A comedian-turned-historian’s unique perspective – Author Jeong Jae-hwan holds a Ph.D. in history and recounts 5,000 years of Korean history from the angle of “how adults can make sense of the past.” Blends entertainment with intellectual depth, framing history as a lens for understanding the present.
★ Richly illustrated and accessible to general readers – Features over 80 visuals (photographs, timelines, and maps), weaving ten landmark events across time. Connects Goryeo celadon to today’s manufacturing, Hwaseong Fortress to “fast-paced” culture, and the 19th-century People’s Assembly to contemporary plaza democracy.
★ History as meaning, not memorization – From the Jeonggok-ri hand axe to the Korean Language Society affair, this book guides readers to see history as “meaning” rather than “fact.” The past becomes the narrative closest to us, the one that best explains who we are today.

“Immerse yourself in unforgettable scenes and grasp their meaning!” Through ten pivotal events, gain a sweeping overview of 5,000 years of Korean history. This book is a compilation of the third season of EBS’s flagship humanities program, “My Second Textbook.”
It serves as an accessible general-read work, distilling five millennia of Korean history—often all the more intricate and fragmented the harder one tries to memorize it—into ten defining moments. The book encourages readers to approach Korean history not chronologically, but through the lens of its underlying significance, clearly illuminating the key episodes that have shaped both today’s “Republic of Korea” and who we are.
From the Jeonggok-ri hand axe to the Korean Language Society affair, this book guides readers to see history as “meaning” rather than “fact.” As readers engage with each episode, they naturally grasp the broad contours of Korean history. Once the final page is turned, those historical scenes that have shaped our daily lives—such as the origins of Korean manufacturing glimpsed in Goryeo celadon, the seeds of “fast-paced” culture revealed by Hwaseong Fortress, and the myth of plaza democracy from the 19th-century People’s Assembly to today—are revealed as intimately connected to the here and now.

Author：Jung Jae-hwan
Jeong Jae-hwan is a historian with a deep love for the Korean language. After making his broadcasting debut in 1979, he worked as both a comedian and a host before developing a passion for Hangeul in his thirties. In 2000, he founded the “Hangeul Culture Solidarity,” dedicating himself to preserving Korea’s language and writing system. That same year, he enrolled at Sungkyunkwan University to study history and earned his doctorate in 2013, with a dissertation titled “A Study on the Activities of the Korean Language Society.” He serves as a radio host, a senior research fellow at the Institute of East Asian History at Sungkyunkwan University, the president of the Hangeul Culture Solidarity, and the principal of the affiliated Korean language school. His publications include The Day the National Language Disappears and Opening the Era of Hangeul.

Planning: EBS Production Team
Guided by the belief that “all the knowledge we need to learn is contained in textbooks,” My Second Textbook reinterprets the knowledge and cultural values embedded in textbooks, freeing them from rote memorization and exam-oriented education. Previous seasons have explored science, art, the Korean language, economics, psychology, music, and ancient civilizations; the third season uses Korean history, sports, American history, and literature as entry points.

Preface
Lecture 1: The Jeonggok-ri Hand Axe That Shattered Prejudice: The Gene of Dream-Building
Lecture 2: From Myth to History: The Gene of the Korean Peninsula’s Seeds
Lecture 3: The Unification of the Three Kingdoms: The Gene of Unity and Integration
Lecture 4: The Tripitaka Koreana, Which Overcame National Crises: The Gene of Patriotic Spirit
Lecture 5: Goryeo Celadon as a Work of Art: The Gene of a Spirit of Challenge and Experimentation
Lecture 6: Hunminjeongeum, a Revolutionary Invention: The Gene of Communication That Connects People
Lecture 7: Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, the Ideal City: The Gene of “A Post-Harmony City, a Human-Hued Splendor”
Lecture 8: A Struggling Modern Era, the Gapsin Coup: The Gene of Reforms and Revolutions That Changed the World
Lecture 9: The First Public Square, the Manmin Daehoe: The Gene of Public-Square Democracy
Lecture 10: The Independence Movement to Preserve Language and Writing, the Chosŏn Language Society: The Gene That Guards Our National Identity

References