Syngman Rhee's Exile
Syngman Rhee became South Korea’s first President
of the then newly established Korean Provisional Government in 1948. Syngman Rhee
had previous political experience, when he was a young man he was arrested for
attempting to remove King Gojong of the Korean Empire from power. Rhee wished
to remove him from power because King Gojong was planning to sign the Treaty of
Portsmouth, which would make Korea part of the Imperial Japanese Empire.
Despite his attempts he was sent to prison in 1897. On his 20th day
of imprisonment he attempted to escape, but he was unsuccessful and was
sentenced to life imprisonment in the Hanseung Prison. However, Rhee was
released in 1904 because of the political shift in Korea due to the
Russo-Japanese War[1].
When Korea became a protectorate of Japan in November 1905, Rhee fled to the
United States in exile. ‘He was one of the main leaders in exile and lobbied
for decades for Korean Independence’[2].
Syngman Rhee moved back to Korea when the Russo-Japanese War ended, and he
became President in 1948. Rhee lead South Korea through the war, but the people
of South Korea were worried about the liability of their President. When Rhee
was presented with the first long-term economic plan, he dismissed it saying that
‘five-year plans were a communist idea’[3]. The
United States was also concerned with the South Korean leader. Rhee was angry
that the United States had not repelled the Chinese during the Korean War and
he refused to sign the 1953 Armistice[4]. Rhee
also threatened to march north. He never did, but it was enough for the United
States to become concerned. Despite this he was re-elected in 1956, however
this was ‘solely because the other main candidate, Shin Ik-hee, mysteriously
died’[5]. In
1960, during the next election, ‘Rhee won 88.7 percent of the votes. Rhee’s
vice presidential candidate, Lee Ki-poong, defeated the third candidate, Chang
Myon, by such a suspiciously large margin protestors took to the streets
alleging fraud’[6].
Just a few months later, ‘1000 civilians gathered in front of the Democratic
Party building. The police started shooting the protestors, 125 civilians were
killed’[7].
‘With the intervention of the United States, Rhee stepped down. When he left
the presidential residence, the crowd applauded him’ sarcastically[8].
Rhee, once again, moved to the United States in exile. He died in Honolulu,
Hawaii at age 90.
[1] Breen, Mike. The Fall of Korea’s First President. TheKoreaTimes: March 23, 2014. www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/01/113_64364.html, 4.
[2] Ibid, 1.
[3] Ibid, 1.
[4]Ibid, 1.
[5] ROK Drop. Koreans Who Mattered: Syngman Rhee. ROK Drop: March 24, 2014. Rokdrop.com/2008/03/21/Koreans-who-mattered-syngman-rhee/, 1.
[6] Breen. Op. City, 1.
[7] Ibid, 1.
[8]Ibid, 1.
[1] Breen, Mike. The Fall of Korea’s First President. TheKoreaTimes: March 23, 2014. www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2011/01/113_64364.html, 4.
[2] Ibid, 1.
[3] Ibid, 1.
[4]Ibid, 1.
[5] ROK Drop. Koreans Who Mattered: Syngman Rhee. ROK Drop: March 24, 2014. Rokdrop.com/2008/03/21/Koreans-who-mattered-syngman-rhee/, 1.
[6] Breen. Op. City, 1.
[7] Ibid, 1.
[8]Ibid, 1.