SyngMan Rhee, the first president and the founding father of the Republic of Korea. Born on March 26, 1875, in the province of Pyongsan, Korea. He was born in a family which was once rich. But by the time of Rhee’s birth, his family was collapsed financially. His family tree traces back to the kings of the Joseon kingdom. Rhee moved to Seoul and studied hard to take civil service examinations. When he reached 19, he started learning English from a American Methodist school.
He spent his early 20’s teaching Americans Korean language. He was very active in politics even at a young age. He criticized the Russian and the Japanese empires fight for control of the Korean Peninsula during the Russo-Japanese war. That was when he learned that powerful …show more content…
But Rhee wasn’t ready to celebrate yet. He believed there was a bigger threat on the horizon. The Soviet Union. Couple days before Japan surrendered, the soviets declared war against Japan and started sending troops to China and Korea. Rhee was an extreme anti-communist, and he believed if the Soviets take control of Korea, there will be a puppet communist government. Which was not his vision for Koreas future. He was running out of time. China was about to fall under communism by the lead of Mao Ze Dong. Rhee had no choice, but to write a letter to one of the U.S military general, Douglas MacArthur, who was also an extreme anti-communist. Rhee wrote a letter to MacArthur sharing his insights on why communists should never take control of Korea and how the U.S troops should temporarily invade Korea to establish a democratic country. After reading Rhee’s letter, MacArthur was convinced and he quickly ordered the deployment of U.S troops to the Korean peninsula, this led to the military occupation of Korea, divided by the Soviets and American soldiers. Korea was divided by the 2 countries military. The Korean people were angry that foreign troops were taking control of the country again. Most of the Korean people and the politicians agreed that the country should never be divided, even if it meant to make Korea a communist country. Rhee strongly disagreed. After 3 years of stalemate, Korea was officially divided by 2 governments that support different causes. On the south, there was the Republic of Korea, a democratic country that is influenced heavily by America’s capitalist system. It had almost everything a free country had. It was the first time in Korea’s history to ever have a democratic system. On the other hand, the north had the puppet communist government. The DPRK. Their leader, Kim Il Sung, was a puppet leader to the Soviets chosen by
He spent his early 20’s teaching Americans Korean language. He was very active in politics even at a young age. He criticized the Russian and the Japanese empires fight for control of the Korean Peninsula during the Russo-Japanese war. That was when he learned that powerful …show more content…
But Rhee wasn’t ready to celebrate yet. He believed there was a bigger threat on the horizon. The Soviet Union. Couple days before Japan surrendered, the soviets declared war against Japan and started sending troops to China and Korea. Rhee was an extreme anti-communist, and he believed if the Soviets take control of Korea, there will be a puppet communist government. Which was not his vision for Koreas future. He was running out of time. China was about to fall under communism by the lead of Mao Ze Dong. Rhee had no choice, but to write a letter to one of the U.S military general, Douglas MacArthur, who was also an extreme anti-communist. Rhee wrote a letter to MacArthur sharing his insights on why communists should never take control of Korea and how the U.S troops should temporarily invade Korea to establish a democratic country. After reading Rhee’s letter, MacArthur was convinced and he quickly ordered the deployment of U.S troops to the Korean peninsula, this led to the military occupation of Korea, divided by the Soviets and American soldiers. Korea was divided by the 2 countries military. The Korean people were angry that foreign troops were taking control of the country again. Most of the Korean people and the politicians agreed that the country should never be divided, even if it meant to make Korea a communist country. Rhee strongly disagreed. After 3 years of stalemate, Korea was officially divided by 2 governments that support different causes. On the south, there was the Republic of Korea, a democratic country that is influenced heavily by America’s capitalist system. It had almost everything a free country had. It was the first time in Korea’s history to ever have a democratic system. On the other hand, the north had the puppet communist government. The DPRK. Their leader, Kim Il Sung, was a puppet leader to the Soviets chosen by