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Why did the Korean War start?
North Korea aimed to militarily conquer South Korea and therefore unify Korea under the communist North Korean regime. Concerned that the Soviet Union and Communist China might have encouraged this invasion, President Harry S.
Who ordered the North Korean invasion of South Korea?
leader Kim Il-sungThe war broke out on June 25, 1950 when North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel, invading South Korea. North Korean leader Kim Il-sung launched the attack once he had received a promise of support from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
How many terms did Syngman Rhee serve?
July 24, 1948 – April 26, 1960Syngman Rhee / Presidential term
What did Kim Il-sung do?
Kim Il-sung (/ˈkɪm ˈɪlˈsʌŋ, -ˈsʊŋ/; Korean: 김일성, Korean pronunciation: [kimils͈ʌŋ]; born Kim Song-ju, 김성주; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994.
Who mainly helped South Korea?
the United StatesThe United Nations, with the United States as the principal participant, joined the war on the side of the South Koreans, and the People's Republic of China came to North Korea's aid.
Why did Stalin support the Korean War?
According to a letter dictated by Stalin himself months after the 1950 invasion, and discovered in Soviet archives in 2005, one of the main reasons that Stalin backed a communist invasion of South Korea was to “entangle” the United States in a costly war in East Asia and “distract” America's attention away from Eastern ...
How many people died in the Korean War?
Korean War Casualties Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these–about 10 percent of Korea's prewar population–were civilians. (This rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II's and the Vietnam War's.) Almost 40,000 Americans died in action in Korea, and more than 100,000 were wounded.
What is the Korean War sometimes called?
The Korean War is often called the “Forgotten War” because it was largely overshadowed by WWII and Vietnam. The importance of this war in the history of the United States and the world is vastly understated; this conflict marked the first clear battle of the Cold War.
What is the line between North and South Korea called?
the 38th paralleldemilitarized zone (DMZ), region on the Korean peninsula that demarcates North Korea from South Korea. It roughly follows latitude 38° N (the 38th parallel), the original demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea at the end of World War II.
Who was the best North Korean leader?
Kim was regularly hailed by the media as the "fearless leader" and "the great successor to the revolutionary cause". He emerged as the most powerful figure behind his father in North Korea.
How many civilians lost their lives during the Korean War?
Approximately 150,000 troops from South Korea, the United States, and participating U.N. nations were killed in the Korean War, and as many as one million South Korean civilians perished. An estimated 800,000 communist soldiers were killed, and more than 200,000 North Korean civilians died.
How do you pronounce Kim Il-sung?
0:010:24How to pronounce Kim Il Sung - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipQue me emocione que me lo sane. Quién lo sabe tiene opciones que me erosión.MoreQue me emocione que me lo sane. Quién lo sabe tiene opciones que me erosión.
When did North Korea invade South Korea?
The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and rebellions in South Korea. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the United States and allied countries. The fighting ended with an armistice on 27 July 1953.
Why Korea split into North and South Korea?
In 1950, after years of mutual hostilities, North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt to re-unify the peninsula under its communist rule. The subsequent Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, ended with a stalemate and has left Korea divided by the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) up to the present day.
What is the fight between North and South Korea?
Hostilities arose between the two countries in 1950, when North Korea, under its communist agenda, tried to annex South Korea in an attempt to unite the two into one independent nation. Three years after the war, Korean Armistice Agreement was formally signed.
How many North Koreans invaded South Korea?
75,000 soldiersThe Korean war began on June 25, 1950, when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People's Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south.
How long did Rhee stay in power?
He remained president of the Provisional Government for 20 years, eventually being pushed out of the leadership by younger Korean nationalists centred in China. (Rhee had refused to recognize an earlier impeachment, for misuse of his authority, by the Provisional Government in the 1920s.)
What did Rhee do as President?
As president, Rhee assumed dictatorial powers, tolerating little domestic opposition to his program. Rhee purged the National Assembly of members who opposed him and outlawed the opposition Progressive Party, whose leader, Cho Bong Am, was executed for treason.
How many prisoners did Rhee release?
Hoping that UN forces would continue to fight and eventually unite North and South Korea under one government, Rhee hindered the truce talks by ordering the release in June 1953 of some 25,000 anticommun ist North Korean prisoners.
What happened to Rhee in 1956?
These demands were supported by the unanimous vote of the National Assembly and by the U.S. government. Rhee resigned on April 27, 1960, and went into exile in Hawaii.
When was Rhee arrested?
In 1896 he joined with other young Korean leaders to form the Independence Club, a group dedicated to asserting Korean independence from Japan. When right-wing elements destroyed the club in 1898, Rhee was arrested and imprisoned until 1904.
When did Rhee return to Hawaii?
He returned home in 1910, the year in which Korea was annexed by Japan. Rhee found it impossible to hide his hostility toward Japanese rule, and, after working briefly in a YMCA and as a high-school principal, he emigrated to Hawaii, which was then a U.S. territory.
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How did Rhee rule Korea?
After Korean independence and the creation of the Republic of Korea, Rhee established himself as a brutal dictator and consolidated power under his regime by exerting fear toward the opposition. His rule would last through the 1950s before being brought to an end by brave student protestors and the influence of the U.S.
What did Rhee do at the end of his career?
By the end of his career, Rhee became a brutal dictator whose desire for a unified Korea and hatred of communism turned him into someone his younger self would hate. He was a man of his time and a major influence on the history of modern-day Korea.
Why did Rhee release North Koreans?
Rhee released them, hoping they would begin fighting again and peace talks would stall. The communists did walk away from peace talks, but when fighting resumed, they aimed their anger at Rhee's government.
How did Rhee gain power?
He formed alliances and gained power for himself by starting a political party made of local street gangs and police chiefs—whom he used to enforce his rule and garner political support. After the assassinations of rivals, Rhee had consolidated power for himself.
Where was Rhee born?
Rhee was born on March 26, 1875, in the Hwanghae province of northern Korea. At this time, Japan controlled the entire Korean peninsula. By the early 1900s, Japan had added Korea to their empire, and Japanese control of Korea would last until the end of WWII.
What does it mean to enroll in a course?
Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams.
When did Korea gain independence?
When WWII ended in 1945 , Korea gained its independence from Japan. In 1948, Rhee became the President of the Republic of Korea, and thanks to the enforcers inside his party, won again in 1952, 1956, and 1960.
How old was Syngman Rhee when he was liberated?
At the time of liberation, Syngman Rhee, sixy-nine years old, pressured the U.S. State Department to be allowed to return to Korea. He was initially ignored, but with help from his friends, Rhee was flown back to the country that he had not seen for some thirty-three years in General Douglas MacArthur 's own plane. ( Douglas MacArthur [1880–1964; see entry] at the time was the Allied supreme commander of U.S. forces in the southwest Pacific.) He was given a hero's reception by the American Military Government that was ruling the southern half of Korea and by the Korean people, who were overjoyed with the prospect of independence.
What was the Tonghak Rebellion?
When Rhee began his studies at the Methodist academy, a large popular uprising, the Tonghak Rebellion, swept across Korea. The rebels, reacting to corruption within the Korean government and the influence of outsiders in their country, sought a return to the traditional cultures and religions of Asia. When the Tonghak rebels got out of control, the Korean government called upon China to help put down the uprising; without being asked, Japan also sent in troops. China and Japan went to war, and the Japanese won in 1895. The Japanese then began what would prove to be a long and forceful presence in Korea.
What did Rhee do as a boy?
Rhee's father wanted him to follow in the yangban tradition, so he spent his time as a boy studying Confucian classics. Confucianism is a moral and religious system from China that teaches proper human behavior, particularly in terms of relationships between people. Confucianism in many ways serves to preserve the status quo (the way things are at the time), since it advocates that everyone should know their place in society and not overstep their position. By the time Rhee was in his teens, he longed for more modern ideas. He cut off his topknot of hair (traditional for yangban youth) and began to read Western books. In 1894, he enrolled in the Paejae Haktang, a Methodist mission high school, where he was taught Western traditions and the English language. Upon graduation from Paejae, he was employed by the academy as an English instructor.
How many people were arrested after Rhee was elected?
After he gained the office of president of Korea, Rhee went to work consolidating his power. In the six months that followed his inauguration, about 81,000 people were arrested, including a good number of elected members of the National Assembly. Rhee fired many of the officers of the ROK army and used the courts to keep any perceived enemies at bay. The economy was very bad and the public was unhappy. In the 1950 elections for National Assembly, only 47 of the 210 seats were held by Rhee supporters.
What did Rhee keep in his notebook?
Rhee was aware of the importance of proving his legitimacy, and kept in his possession a notebook that contained a tracing of his genealogy back to the Yi dynasty founder, the instructions from the members of the Korean cabinet in 1904 [telling him to seek help from Theodore Roosevelt against the Japanese], newspaper clippings about his activities on Korea's behalf at numerous international conferences, photographs of himself with Woodrow Wilson—indeed, every piece of evidence he could accumulate to demonstrate his claim to be the leader of the Korean people.
Why did Rhee travel to the United States?
In the winter of the same year, Rhee traveled to the United States with a hope of appealing to President Theodore Roosevelt for assistance to Korea in its desperate efforts to maintain its independence from Japan. The appeal was futile, as the American-Korean treaty of 1882 had lost meaning and as the U.S. government was eager to cooperate with the Japan that was emerging victorious from the Russo-Japanese War. The Portsmouth Treaty led to the Japanese protectorate over Korea, and the United States promptly withdrew the American legation from Seoul.
How long did it take for Rhee to get out of prison?
In 1904, six years after his arrest, Rhee was released from prison. According to him (and many have questioned this claim) some leaders of the Korean government asked him to go to the United States and plead for help against the Japanese. He arrived in Washington, D.C., on December 31, 1905. It took him another six months to get an appointment to see President Theodore Roosevelt (1887–1944) to ask for U.S. aid to help Korea rid itself of the Japanese. When he finally did get in to see the president, he was too late. The United States had already agreed to recognize Japan's interests in Korea. Soon after Rhee's visit with the president, Japan declared Korea a "protectorate." Within five years, Japan annexed Korea, making the peninsula, which had been an independent country for centuries, part of its expanding empire.
What was the Korean independence movement?
On March 1, 1919, a Korea-wide demonstration for the independence of the country took place as 33 leading Koreans signed a declaration of independence which was then read to crowds in the streets. The Japanese reaction to the massive "Mansei Uprising," which was partly inspired by the Wilsonian doctrine of self-determination, was swift and cruel. An outcome of the "Samil movement" was that a group of independence leaders, meeting in Seoul in April 1919, formed a Korean provisional government with Syngman Rhee—still in the United States—as the first president. The provisional government was subsequently located in Shanghai, and Rhee continued to lead the independence movement mostly from the United States, where he was best known. When Kim Ku became the president of the "government in exile," Rhee acted as its Washington representative.
What university did Syngman Rhee go to?
While Syngman Rhee was pursuing his elusive goal of attempting to save Korean independence through hopeless appeals, he also enrolled, in the spring of 1905, as a student in George Washington University. Upon graduation in 1907, he decided to do postgraduate work in the United States and was admitted to Harvard University.
What was the outcome of the Samil movement?
An outcome of the "Samil movement" was that a group of independence leaders, meeting in Seoul in April 1919, formed a Korean provisional government with Syngman Rhee—still in the United States—as the first president. The provisional government was subsequently located in Shanghai, and Rhee continued to lead the independence movement mostly from ...
How long was Rhee in power?
Rhee's presidency for about 12 years was marked principally by his stern anti-communism, anti-Japanese policies, awesome "personalism," and paternalistic leadership. It was partly due to his prestige and leadership, however, that South Korea could maintain war efforts during the Korean conflict of 1950-1953.
What was the topic of Rhee's dissertation?
The topic of his dissertation was "Neutrality as Influenced by the United States.". Rhee returned to Korea in 1910 as a YMCA organizer, teacher, and evangelist among the youth of Korea.
What was Rhee's name?
Rhee's boyhood name was Su‧ng-yong. When he was very young, the family moved to Seoul, the capital city of a dynasty in rapid decline. He studied Chinese readers and classics before enrolling in the Paejae Haktang (academy), a Methodist mission school, in 1894.
When was Syngman Rhee elected president?
He was elected the first president of the Republic of Korea in 1948. His government was overthrown in 1960. Yi Su‧ng-man, who Westernized his name to Syngman Rhee, was born on April 26, 1875, only son of Yi Kyo‧ng-so‧n, a member of the local gentry in the village of Pyo‧ng-san in Hwanghae Province. Rhee's boyhood name was Su‧ng-yong.
What happened to Rhee in Korea?
By April 25, the protests had grown even larger as professors and other citizens began to join the students, nearly throwing the country into complete anarchy. Rhee stepped down on April 26 and was flown out of South Korea by the CIA. He died in exile in Honolulu in 1965. (His fall was also immortalized in Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”) In these excerpts from his oral history, Marshall Green discusses the chaos of the elections and the student protests, as well as his role in Rhee’s resignation.
What happened in Masan in 1960?
In March 1960, a protest against electoral corruption took place in Masan. Violence erupted as police started shooting, and the protesters retaliated by throwing rocks. A few weeks later, the body of a student who had disappeared during the riots was found in the Masan Harbor.
How long was Green chargé in the election?
GREEN: I was chargé during the elections and for about two weeks after that. As the issue came to a climax, the ambassador was back.
How many people were in the streets on April 19?
The afternoon of April 19, there were probably about 100,000 demonstrators in the streets. The Rhee government, in fearful reaction against the masses, ordered the militia and the palace guard and the police to put down the demonstration.
Why was the carnage so high in the streets?
The electricity in the streets that night was very, very high, one of the reasons being that when any student was killed, they would take his body and hold it up on top of a jeep that was weaving through the masses of people, whipping them up into a fury.
Why is the phrase "justifiable grievances" so famous?
The phrase “justifiable grievances” is one that I cooked up, and that phrase was to become a very famous one, because when we used it publicly, “justifiable grievances,” identified the U.S. with the people. The minute we used the words “justifiable grievances,” the students were with us.
When did Chang Myun resign?
The next several days were relatively quiet. Meanwhile, Chang Myun, the vice president, had resigned on the 22nd of April. But on the 25th of April, since Rhee clearly had not heard the voice of the students and there were some 200 professors who started a procession down the street. I’ll never forget that.
How long was Rhee in power?
It was a sad end to the career of an old independence activist. The best we can say about Rhee's 12 years in power was that his republic survived. Despite the war and despite the poverty of the day, Rhee could have done so much more, had he brought the experience of 40 years of exile in democratic countries to bear. He had a mandate for vigorous action, particularly as he had had to deal with leftist guerrilla subversion, left-right violence, and a civil war. However, he failed to institute the basic traditions of democracy ― reasonably fair elections and a tradition of peaceful democratic succession. Had he lost and accepted defeat graciously in 1952 or 1956, or retired and let another candidate run, he may be remembered today with more affection.
What did Rhee do during the Korean War?
Rhee acted imperially, above the fray of politics, but in 1952, during the Korean War, when he saw that he was not going to be re-elected, he became more involved, threatening to dissolve the National Assembly if it did not approve a constitutional change that would replace its power to choose the president with a popular vote. Four years later, with another constitutional amendment, Rhee ran for a third term and won.
Where did Rhee go to school?
After his release and the Japanese take-over of Korea, Rhee went into exile in the United States. He earned his doctorate at Princeton, where he studied under the future U.S. president, Woodrow Wilson. He was one of the main leaders in exile and lobbied for decades for Korean independence. He married an Austrian woman, and by the time he returned to Korea after four decades, he came across as more of a foreigner than a Korean.
Where was the mass protest in 1960?
In the early evening of March 15, 1960, 1,000 residents gathered in front of the opposition Democratic Party building in the southern city of Masan. The police started shooting and protestors responded by throwing rocks. One month later, the body of a young man, Kim Ju-yul, a student at Masan Commercial High School who had disappeared during the protests, was found on the beach.
When is the 60th anniversary of The Korea Times?
The project is part of the 60th anniversary of The Korea Times, which falls on Nov. 1.
Did Rhee leave the presidential residence?
Later, as citizens and professors joined the demonstrations, the police withdrew. With the intervention of the US, Rhee stepped down. Seen as old and out-of-touch, Rhee was not resented. When he left the presidential residence, the crowd applauded him. Vice-President elect Lee Ki-Poong, however, committed suicide with his whole family.
Who was the first president of Korea?
The first president of the newly-formed Republic of Korea, Syngman Rhee, had an impressive background from the perspective of both the Americans, who had ruled the southern half of the peninsula for three years before its establishment, and the Korean citizenry.
The Early Life of Syngman Rhee
The Independence Club
- The Independence Club was founded by Syngman Rhee and other Korean nationalists in 1896. It advocated for full independence of the Korean Peninsula. Korea had long been under the heavy influence of China, and in the late 1800s Japan and Russia, as well as other colonial powers, all sought influence in the area. The First Sino-Japanese War from 1894-1895 technically establish…
President Syngman Rhee
- Syngman Rhee was elected as President of the Korean Provisional Governmentin 1919. This was a government in exile, based in Shanghai in China. He served there until 1925, when he returned to Hawaii. There, he worked hard to try to get U.S. policy makers and other world leaders to support Korean independence. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor ...
Yangban Youth
- Yi Sung-man, who later Westernized his name to Syngman Rhee, was born on April 26, 1875, the only son of Yi Kyong-sun, a member of the local gentry in the village of Pyong-san in Hwanghae Province. When he was very young, his family moved to Seoul, the capital city of Korea. Rhee's family was of the yangbanclass of Korea, the traditional Korean elite who often held bureaucrati…
Involvement with The Politics of Reform
- When Rhee began his studies at the Methodist academy, a large popular uprising, the Tonghak Rebellion, swept across Korea. The rebels, reacting to corruption within the Korean government and the influence of outsiders in their country, sought a return to the traditional cultures and religions of Asia. When the Tonghak rebels got out of control, the...
Education in The United States
- After his frustrated attempt to save Korean independence, Rhee enrolled as a student in George Washington University, getting financial help from the Methodist Mission Board. Upon graduation in 1907, he was admitted to a master's program at Harvard University. He began to read extensively about international relations. He received his doctorate in political science from Prin…
President of Provisional Government
- On March 1, 1919, thirty-three leading Koreans signed a declaration of independence, which was then read to crowds in the streets of Seoul. A huge Korea-wide demonstration, which came to be known as the March First Movement, swept the country. The Japanese reaction to the massive uprising was swift and cruel, resulting in thousands of deaths, injuries, and arrests. At that time, …
Return to Korea
- When World War IIcame to an end in 1945, the Korean people were full of joy at their liberation, but their dreams of an independent Korea were short-lived. The United States and the Soviet Union agreed on a joint military occupation of Korea to accept the Japanese surrender, reasoning that the Koreans had been ruled by others for so long, they would not immediately have the resource…
Political Struggle in Korea, 1945–1948
- At the time of liberation, the Korean people had quickly put together their own government, the Korean People's Republic. It had 145 branches throughout the country called People's Committees that governed locally. Rhee had been named its president before he returned to Korea, but he quickly distanced himself from the reform-oriented Korean People's Republic, which included lar…
Rhee Elected President
- The Americans at first opposed the idea of the establishment of separate governments in Korea's Soviet-occupied north and American-occupied south. But they were also unwilling to agree to the Soviet's proposal that both occupiers withdraw from Korea at the same time and leave the Koreans to choose their government. In early 1948, at the urging of the United States, the United …
The Korean War
- Rhee's dream was to reunify Korea under his own rule. He wanted to go to war with North Korea, but he knew he could not hope to win the war without the military backing of the United States. The United States did not want war and made it clear that it would not support South Korea in an unprovoked conflict. Even so, there were several border battles started by the Southin 1949. The…
Sabotaging The Truce
- When U.S. president Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) decided it was time to negotiate with the communists for an armistice, Rhee let it be known that he would never go along with a truce as long as the Korean nation was divided in two and there were still Chinese troops in the North. While the United Nations and the communists were trying to agree what to do with North Korea…
After The War
- As Rhee aged, he seemed to become less able to compromise and work with others, skills which had never been his particular strengths. He was determined to keep his hold on power, however, even if it meant intimidating opponents and rigging elections. In April 1960, following his fourth successful bid for the presidency, massive student protests and violence in several South Korea…