Rhee, Syngman, 1875-1965

Syngman Rhee (Korean: 이승만, pronounced [i.sɯŋ.man][note 1]; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965) was a South Korean politician who served as the first President of South Korea, from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea from 1919 to his impeachment in 1925 and from 1947 to 1948. As President of South Korea, Rhee's government was characterised by authoritarianism, corruption, limited economic development, strong anti-communism and by the late 1950s growing political instability and public opposition. He imbued the country with a tradition of authoritarian rule that lasted, with a few short breaks, until 1988.

Born in Hwanghae Province, Joseon, Rhee attended an American Methodist school, where he converted to Christianity. He became involved in anti-Japanese activities after the 1894–95 First Sino-Japanese War and was imprisoned in 1899. Released in 1904, he moved to the United States, where he obtained degrees from American universities and met President Theodore Roosevelt. After a brief 1910–12 return to Korea, he moved to Hawaii in 1913. From 1918 to 1924, he was promoted to several high positions in some Korean provisional governments and served as a representative of these to Western powers. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1939. In 1945, he was returned to US-controlled Korea by the US military, and on 20 July 1948 he was elected President of the Republic of Korea with 92.7% of the vote, beating Kim Koo.

Rhee adopted a hardline anti-communist and pro-American stance as President. Early on in his presidency, his government put down an anti-imperialist uprising on Jeju Island, and the Mungyeong and Bodo League massacres were committed against suspected communist sympathisers, leaving at least 100,000 people dead.[1] Rhee oversaw the outbreak of the Korean War (1950–1953), in which North Korea invaded the south. He refused to sign the armistice agreement that ended the war, wishing to have reunited the peninsula by force.[2][3]

Following the war, the country remained at a low level economically, lagging behind North Korea, and was heavily reliant on U.S. aid. After being re-elected in 1956, the constitution was modified to remove the two-term restriction, despite protests from the opposition. He was elected uncontested in March 1960, after his opponent Cho Byeong-ok died before voting day. After Rhee's ally Lee Ki-poong won the corresponding vice-presidential election by a wide margin, the opposition rejected the result as rigged, which triggered protests. These escalated into the student-led April Revolution when police shot demonstrators in Masan, which forced Rhee to resign on 26 April and ultimately led to the establishment of the Second Republic of Korea. On 28 April, as protesters converged on the presidential palace, the CIA covertly flew him out to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he spent the rest of his life in exile. He died of a stroke in 1965.