Lee Kibaik(李基白) became estimated as the first Korean historian after the liberation of Korea to write the most outstanding Korean history by publishing Kuksa Sillon (國史新論, A New History of Our Nation) in 1961, which well reflected past historical achievements and emphasized the nation's independence. Only two years after the publication, he revised and complemented his work and published a second edition of Kuksa Sillon and then in 1967, just four years after the second edition, when Prof. Wagner in Harvard Univ. suggested that he will publish the book in English, Lee Kibaik changed the title and revised the entire work to publish the first edition of Han'guksa Sillon (韓國史新論, A New History of Korea). There were two objectives behind his decision. One was to organize the development of Korean history based on the change of ruling powers and the other was to maximize the originality of Korean history.
Still not satisfied with the editions, he published a revised edition in 1976 which reflects his strong willingness to liquidate the vestiges of Japanese imperialism after thirty years past the liberation. He then published a new edition of Han'guksa Sillon once again, to manifest his recent findings and to clearly state his opinion on the new achievements. In 1999, entering the new millenium, he came to publish a Korean version of his work, with the intention to share the history with the Hangul generations and in the hope that his work will be of value in assessing the present and forecasting the future not only recognizing the past.
The characteristics of Lee Kibaik's Kuksa Sillon and Han'guksa Sillon are; One, Content wise, it was an introduction of which historical treatise took precedence; Two, Narrative wise, it fully reflected prior findings with the intention of unbiased description through concrete facts; Three, Format wise, it is a good primer for people who wished to study further Korean history by explicitly providing references; Four, In the aspect of what he focused on as the center of history, he espoused the understanding of mankind as a social power across his work.
Furthermore, of the many significances of Lee Kibaik's Kuksa Sillon and Han'guksa Sillon, at least three points should be highlighted; One, that he wrote an introduction reflecting all past historical achievements; Two, that he organized the development of Korean history with unique periodization by obtaining conformity with comparative history; Three, that he put great deal of weight on living-cultural history through human-centered understanding rather than politics or social systems. And one thing to keep in mind is that even the same block book consists of different contents, and this can not only be found in the revised edition but also in the new edition and even the Korean version. In other words, he always had Han'guksa Sillon at his beside along with a bible and revised it at any time.