The objective of this study is to compare the elementary school reading content in the most recent curricula in South
Korea and North Korea. For this reason, content structure and components in reading were extracted from the South Korean 2015
Revised Korean Curriculum and the North Korean 2013 Revised Korean Curriculum in order to examine their commonalities and differences.
The commonalities in reading between South Korean and North Korean education are that reading is an independent area, in
which the methods of reading are emphasized, and that various types of writing and reading attitudes are suggested. However, differences
are observed in content details and main components within such commonalities, and there were numerous content items treated
independently, such as media, vocabulary education, and literature, or components given special emphasis only in South Korea or North
Korea. The commonalities and differences observed in reading between South Korean and North Korean education suggest important
implications in planning reading education for the era of reunification. They include an integrated perspective on the essence of reading
in the era of reunification, solutions to modifying the content structure of reading, and the integration of reading and adjacent areas.