Syngman Rhee

Rhee, Syngman 

(Li Sung-man, Yi Sung-man). Born Mar. 26, 1875, in Seoul; died July 19, 1965, in Honolulu. South Korean political figure. The son of an impoverished aristocrat distantly related to the royal dynasty of Korea.

Rhee was educated in the USA (with degrees from George Washington University, Harvard, and Princeton). In 1948 the South Korean National Assembly “elected” Rhee president of the so-called Korean Republic. He was subsequently reelected to the post three times (1952, 1956, 1960). He was the leader of the ruling bourgeois-landowners’ Liberal Party. During the war in Korea (1950-53) the South Korean authorities with the support of foreign interventionists attempted to extend the antidemocratic Rhee regime throughout all Korea by force. Rhee opposed a solution to the Korean question by peaceful means and favored the stationing of American troops in South Korea. As a result of a popular uprising in April 1960, Syngman Rhee and his government were forced to resign. He went to Hawaii (USA) in May 1960, where he remained until his death.