Rhee, Syngman
(1875–1965), first president of South Korea. Syngman Rhee (Yi Sung-man) was the first president of South Korea from 1948 until 1960. Rhee was born on 26 April 1875 in Hwangwae Province to an aristocratic family. Rhee was educated in both the Confucian classics as well as at a Methodist missionary school. By the time Rhee had reached his teens, he was an ardent nationalist advocating Korean independence. Rhee was arrested for his membership in the Independence Club and was jailed for six years. Upon his release, Rhee left for the United States, where he studied at Harvard and at Princeton, where he earned a doctorate in 1910.
While in the United States, Rhee was elected president of the Korean Provisional Government (in exile in Shanghai) and served as its representative in Washington, DC. He returned to Korea on 16 October 1945, following the cessation of fighting, and calledfor immediate independence. Rhee held elections in the south and was elected president of the Republic of Korea (ROK).
President Syngman Rhee displays the Korean flag at his headquarters in July 1950. (BETTMANN/CORBIS)On 25 June 1950 North Korea launched an attack over the thirty-eighth parallel, forcing Rhee and his government to retreat to Pusan. For the duration of the Korean War, Rhee tried to sabotage armistice negotiations, hoping to reunify the Korean peninsula by force under his rule. To this end, Rhee threatened to withdraw South Korean troops from United Nations command. Rhee then ordered the release of 25,000 prisoners of war not scheduled for repatriation and summarily conscripted them into South Korean army. His relationship with the United States can be characterized as difficult, as he sought to reunify Korea by military means, while the United States preferred a negotiated settlement. Domestically, Rhee intimidated political oppenents and threatened to disband the National Assembly.
Rhee remained president following the Korean War, but in 1960 student-led demonstrations forced his resignation. For all Rhee had done, he failed to meet the peoples' expectations for modernization and economic development. The highlights of Rhee's career include the U.S.-ROK mutual security treaty, which secured long-term economic aid to Korea as well as rebuilding the South Korean military.
Further Reading
Allen, Richard C. (1960) Korea's Syngman Rhee: An Unauthorized Portrait. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle.
Cumings, Bruce. (1997) Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton.
Oliver, Robert. (1978) Syngman Rhee and American Involvement in Korea, 1942–1960: A Personal Narrative. Seoul: Panmun Books.
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