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 South Korea’s cyber diplomacy organization VANK has led revisions to biased descriptions in entries related to Africa in Naver’s Knowledge Encyclopedia, one of the country’s most widely used online reference platforms, the group said.

The revisions form part of VANK’s “Correcting Perceptions of Africa” project, launched in 2025 to review and improve how Africa is represented across educational and reference content.

According to VANK, a review of encyclopedia entries appearing prominently in search results for “Africa” on Naver identified 10 entries containing biased or outdated descriptions. The review covered a broad range of materials, including elementary and secondary school educational content as well as general reference dictionaries.

The entries examined included elementary-level social studies concept dictionaries, religion and geography reference materials, and student-focused encyclopedias. VANK said the content analysis revealed recurring patterns in how Africa was described across these sources.

A key issue identified was a simplified narrative structure that framed Africa in terms of “present poverty and future potential.” Many entries emphasized poverty, disease, and desertification before concluding with references to development potential, while offering limited coverage of contemporary developments such as urbanization, industrial growth, and the expansion of cultural industries.

In one example cited by VANK, an elementary school social studies entry introduced Africa primarily through imagery of hunger and disease, which the organization said could reinforce distorted perceptions.

Another entry in a high school geography glossary described Africa as a region with abundant resources but facing challenges to modernization due to colonial legacies, economic dependency, conflict, and food shortages. VANK noted that such descriptions did not sufficiently reflect current development trends, regional cooperation, or internally driven change across the continent.

The organization also identified the use of terms originating in colonial-era classifications without adequate contextual explanation. These included “Black Africa,” “Pygmy,” “Bushmen,” and “Hottentot,” which VANK said are now widely regarded as outdated or inappropriate, with alternative terms based on self-identification—such as San and Khoikhoi—recommended in contemporary usage.

The first entry to be revised was a high school geography glossary entry titled “Races of Africa.” Prior to the revision, the entry described African populations using the term “Negro” alongside “black race” as a synonym and included terms such as “Sudan Negro,” “Pygmy,” “Bushmen,” and “Hottentot” without contextual explanation. References to the transatlantic slave trade also did not clearly convey the coercive nature of forced migration.

Following VANK’s request, the entry was fully revised. The term “Negro” was removed, and expressions such as “Sudan Negro” and “Bantu Negro” were replaced with geographically and culturally grounded descriptions, including West and Central African ethnic groups and Bantu-speaking populations. Terms such as “Pygmy,” “Bushmen,” and “Hottentot” were replaced with names reflecting self-identification, including San, Khoikhoi, Baka, Mbuti, and Twa. References to the slave trade were also updated to explicitly describe forced migration.

Another entry, previously titled “Negro Race” in a middle school reference resource, was revised by replacing the term with “black race,” addressing terminology identified as discriminatory.

VANK said the revisions go beyond changes in terminology, highlighting broader questions about how knowledge content shapes perceptions of regions and peoples. The organization noted that the shift toward reflecting self-identification and historical context represents a change in how Africa is described in educational and reference materials.

Of the 10 entries identified, some—including those in religion and place-name reference dictionaries and a high school geography glossary—have not yet been updated due to copyright and content provider policies. Naver said it would forward the requested revisions to content providers for review during future database updates.

VANK said it has continued to pursue similar efforts across both domestic and international educational materials. In May 2025, the organization submitted recommendations to South Korea’s Ministry of Education after identifying biased descriptions in school textbooks, resulting in expanded coverage of contemporary African development and international engagement in eight elementary textbooks.

In overseas reference materials, VANK said recent changes have included the addition of labels such as “dated” to certain Africa-related terms. The organization also reported receiving responses from international textbook publishers following similar requests.

Lee Se-yeon, a youth researcher at VANK who led the project, said the initiative does not seek to deny the existence of poverty or conflict in parts of Africa but to address generalized narratives that reduce the continent’s 54 countries to a single image.

“Descriptions of Africa’s past and future are often repeated, while balanced accounts of present-day realities remain limited,” Lee said, adding that the project aims to document and present contemporary Africa more accurately.

VANK Director Park Ki-tae said the organization is applying its experience in correcting inaccuracies related to Korea to broader efforts involving other regions.

“Establishing balanced perspectives on Africa is an important foundation for building a mutually respectful international community,” Park said. He added that as generative artificial intelligence becomes a major channel for information distribution, ensuring the accuracy and context of digital knowledge is becoming increasingly important.

VANK said it plans to continue reviewing Africa-related content across digital platforms, including encyclopedia services, and to pursue further corrections as additional entries remain under review.

Source (Korean)
https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/001/0015998442?sid=103