Born in Pyeongsan, Hwanghae Province, Syngman Rhee was raised under the education of his mother, who was knowledgeable enough to teach the Thousand Character Classic and poetry. In 1894, Rhee entered the Baejae School established by Appenzeller, where he cut off his topknot and began learning about Western history and culture. He earned his tuition by teaching Korean to the wife of an American missionary, and his English proficiency led him to become an English assistant teacher at Baejae School.
At the suggestion of Seo Jae-pil, who had returned from the United States and was teaching at a school, Rhee organized the Hyupseonghoe in Seoul in 1894 to learn about meetings, discussions, and the spirit of democracy. He became the chief editor of the weekly newspaper, Hyupseonghoebo, where he made sharp criticisms, but the newspaper was eventually shut down due to government suppression. Later, he continued his activities as the chief editor of the daily newspaper, Maeil Shinmun. When Hyupseonghoe evolved into the political organization Independence Club in June 1896, Rhee also became a member and stepped onto the political stage.
At that time, the Independence Club, led mainly by Seo Jae-pil, Lee Sang-jae, and Namgung Eok, was active in the civil rights movement but was disbanded due to the displeasure of Emperor Gojong. Seo Jae-pil was deported to the United States, and Lee Sang-jae and Namgung Eok were arrested. At this time, Rhee was sentenced to seven years in prison for distributing pamphlets stating, “The aging Emperor Gwangmu should abdicate in favor of the Crown Prince.” In prison, he read the New Testament provided by missionaries and was inspired, converting about forty fellow prisoners. Christianity became the foundation of his life and thoughts.
In prison, Rhee wrote a book titled “Spirit of Independence,” emphasizing the importance of connecting with the world, adopting new laws to protect oneself, home, and country, excelling in diplomacy, respecting national sovereignty, and valuing justice and liberty.
The manuscript, smuggled out of prison, was later brought to the United States by Park Yong-man, who hid it in a trunk to evade Japanese customs inspection. It was published in San Francisco with the active support of Korean exiles.
Following the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 and the rise of reformists like Min Young-hwan to power, Rhee was released after five years and seven months in prison and went to the United States in November on the recommendation of a missionary. In the U.S., he graduated from George Washington University and earned a master’s degree from Harvard University. In June 1910, he became the first Korean to earn a Ph.D. from Princeton University. President Wilson, then president of the university, often proudly introduced Rhee as a figure who would restore freedom to Korea.
Returning to Korea on September 3, 1910, Rhee taught international law at the Seoul YMCA, where he was popular among students. In 1912, he was appointed as the lay representative of Korea to the General Conference of the Methodist Church in the world and traveled to the U.S. to speak at the conference. During this time, he asked Park Yong-man in Hawaii for help to stay in the U.S. to work in diplomacy and publishing. Park Yong-man, then chief editor of the Korean National Association’s newspaper in Hawaii, invited Rhee to Hawaii in February 1913.
In Hawaii, Rhee mainly engaged in church-centered activities and in September 1913 started the monthly magazine Pacific Magazine in pure Korean and became its chief editor. In 1914, he built a dormitory for 24 female students and established a Korean middle school, laying the foundation for independence through the press, education, and mission work.
Rhee then took control of the Hawaiian Korean National Association and began criticizing the financial issues related to the mainland U.S. Korean National Association. This led to a split in the Hawaiian church and Rhee established the Korean Christian Church and took control of the Hawaiian General Meeting of the Korean National Association in 1915. Eventually, he withdrew the Hawaiian assembly from the Korean National Association, which led to a conflict with Park Yong-man who was leading a training camp for independence soldiers, depending on financial contributions from Korean Americans.
Empowered by Woodrow Wilson’s advocacy of self-determination, Syngman Rhee, alongside Min Chan-ho and Jeong Han-kyung, intended to attend the 1919 Paris Peace Conference as a representative of Koreans. However, when he could not attend, he sent a petition to the U.S. government requesting a trusteeship over Korea. This sparked significant backlash from independence activists who advocated for the complete independence and sovereignty restoration of Korea. Including Sin Chae-ho, 54 people in China issued a declaration against the trusteeship, which served as a rallying point for Korean groups previously divided, uniting them under the Korean National Association during the March 1st Movement.
In April 1919, after the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, Rhee was appointed as the Prime Minister. Later, he received the appointment of the Chief Executive of the Hanseong Government organized in Korea. As the Provisional Government underwent reorganization, he became the Interim President on September 6. In Washington, he organized the Korean Commission and held the first ‘Korean Conference for Freedom and Independence’ in America, gathering representatives from 27 organizations to declare Korea’s freedom and independence. He established the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and conducted extensive publicity, which led to proposals for Korean independence support being introduced four times in the U.S. Congress, leaving a record of Korea’s independence in the congressional records. In May 1921, he attended the Washington Disarmament Conference, where he exposed Japanese aggression.
In July 1921, Rhee organized the Dongji Society, labeling Park Yong-man as an anarchist and Ahn Chang-ho of the Heungsa Dan as an impediment to the independence movement. This was a time when Korean organizations in America began collecting funds for independence, leading to divisions within the movement. Consequently, Rhee sold government bonds worth $46,400 separately from the patriotic funds collected by the Korean National Association, although the Provisional Government still faced financial difficulties. In June 1922, he was impeached by the Provisional Parliament of the Republic of Korea. In November 1924, as relations with the Provisional Government deteriorated, Rhee attempted to establish a self-sufficient community called Dongjichon by founding the Dongji Industrial Company with $70,000 capital, but it failed. In March 1925, he was impeached and removed from the presidency by a three-fourths majority of the attending members of the Provisional Parliament.
The impeachment cited Rhee’s arbitrary dictatorship, lack of inclusiveness and virtue, and violations of the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of Korea, which brought chaos to government affairs and tarnished the sanctity of the law and the government’s prestige. In 1929, he consolidated the Dongji Society in Los Angeles, creating the Naseong Dongji Society. Following financial disputes between the Dongji Society and the Korean National Association, Rhee faced legal challenges in Hawaii and lost. In 1931, he left Hawaii for Geneva to attend the League of Nations meetings. In 1933, he attended the League of Nations conference in Geneva, exposing the injustice of Japan’s annexation of Korea and its invasion of Manchuria.
While in Geneva, Rhee met Francesca Donner, an Austrian woman, during his travels in 1933 and brought her to the U.S.
On October 8, 1934, they married in Montclair Hotel, New York City. The news of his marriage to a Western woman led the women of the Hawaiian wives’ association to weep, recalling how they had collected rice and sold rice cakes to send funds to Washington for the independence movement, feeling a sense of national betrayal that he married a foreign woman.
On December 8, 1940, following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and the onset of the Pacific War, Rhee, then chairman of the Provisional Government’s committee in the U.S., appealed for unity among Koreans through broadcasts on Voice of America, giving hope of impending independence. Rhee was active in European diplomacy, submitting articles condemning Japan to newspapers and advocating for the official recognition of the Provisional Government and Korea’s admission to the League of Nations.
In April 1941, he was appointed as the chairman of the Diplomatic Committee of the Korean American Association, lobbying the U.S. government to recognize the Provisional Government and include Korea as a member of the Allies in World War II. On April 25, 1945, during the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco, he led the Korean delegation, urging other national delegations to support Korea’s inclusion in the international order as part of the Allied nations.
On August 15, 1945, with Japan’s surrender and Korea’s liberation, Syngman Rhee returned to Korea on October 16, 1945, after 33 years abroad. He exhorted, “Stick together and entwine. If we unite, we live; if we scatter, we cannot survive. Let’s all unite as one.” However, he also prevented officials from the Korean National Association, who wanted to return to the homeland following liberation, from coming back. In 1948, he proclaimed the establishment of the Republic of Korea both domestically and internationally and became its first president at the age of 73. He remained the ruler of Korea for 12 years until he was overthrown by the democratization movement on April 19, 1960. After his downfall, he lived in exile in Hawaii, where he died in 1965.
In 1949, the government posthumously awarded him the Republic of Korea Order of National Foundation.
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