First president of South Korea who demanded unification by force and refused to sign the armistice
In a July 1950 letter to Truman: 'I pray… that we can turn to the offensive, break through the hard crust of enemy forces and start the victorious march north.'
Syngman Rhee was a Korean independence activist imprisoned during the late Joseon period for his activities with the Independence Club; after his release he earned a PhD in political science at Princeton, and in 1919 became the first president of the Korean Provisional Government. In 1948 he was elected the first president of the Republic of Korea, building a fiercely anti-communist state under the National Security Law and publicly demanding the forcible reunification of the peninsula by marching north across the 38th parallel. During the Korean War he refused any armistice short of unification, and in 1953 he unilaterally released 27,000 anti-communist prisoners of war, nearly derailing the ceasefire talks; he never signed the armistice. Forced to resign by the April Revolution in 1960 after a rigged election, he died in exile in Hawaii.
Career timeline
- 1896–1898Independence Club and Hyeopseong Club activist; editor of Maeil Sinmun
- 1899–1904Imprisoned at Hanseong Prison; wrote The Spirit of Independence
- 1905–1910Studied in the US; PhD in political science, Princeton
- 1919–1925First President, Korean Provisional Government
- 1948Speaker of Constituent Assembly; elected first President of ROK
- 1948–19601st–3rd President; extended rule through constitutional amendments
- 1960–1965Resigned after April Revolution; exiled in Hawaii
Journalist who headed propaganda for the Pyongnam CPKI
In 1945 in P'yŏngyang he was propaganda chief of the South P'yŏngan Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence and took part as it became the South P'yŏngan People's Political Committee under Soviet prompting. No source records him personally contacting the Soviet command.
Han Chae-dok (韓載德, 1911–1970) was a journalist from Sŏngch'ŏn in South P'yŏngan Province. Under colonial rule he reported for Chosŏn Chungang Ilbo as its Tokyo correspondent and later for P'yŏngyang Maeil Sinmun, and in 1933 he brought out the literary journal Chiptan with the poet Im Hwa. In 1945 he was propaganda chief of the South P'yŏngan Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence and took part as Soviet pressure reorganized it into the South P'yŏngan People's Political Committee. He edited P'yŏngyang Minbo that year, and from 1946 served as secretary-general of the North Korean League of Literature and Arts and as editor-in-chief of Minju Chosŏn. After heading the Korean Central News Agency's domestic news department, he was dispatched to Japan in 1953; in 1959 he defected to the Republic of Korea, working there as an anti-communist researcher and writer until his death.
Career timeline
- 1933Brought out the literary journal Chiptan with the poet Im Hwa
- 일제 강점기Tokyo correspondent for Chosŏn Chungang Ilbo; reporter for P'yŏngyang Maeil Sinmun
- 1945Propaganda chief of the South P'yŏngan Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence; editor-in-chief of P'yŏngyang Minbo
- 1946Joined the Korean Communist Party; secretary-general of the North Korean League of Literature and Arts; editor-in-chief of Minju Chosŏn
- 1953After heading the Korean Central News Agency's domestic news department, dispatched to Japan
- 1959Defected to the Republic of Korea; worked at the Institute for Communist Bloc Research
A general whose colonial military career met failure at the war’s outbreak
At dawn on 28 June 1950, the Han River bridges were destroyed on his order.
Chae Byeong-deok was a general who moved from an officer career in the Imperial Japanese Army into the founding and expansion of the South Korean armed forces after liberation. When the Korean War began in June 1950, he was Army Chief of Staff and failed to organize adequate forward readiness and command, while bearing responsibility for the order that led to the premature destruction of the Han River bridges during the retreat from Seoul. Dismissed soon after the outbreak, he was sent to the southern front and killed in action at the Battle of Hadong in July.
Career timeline
- 1937Graduated from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and commissioned as an artillery officer
- 1940–1945Instructor at the Japanese Army Ordnance School and manager of an army arsenal
- 1946Graduated from the Military English School and became commander of the 1st Regiment of the South Korean Constabulary
- 1948Chief of Staff of the National Defense Bureau and Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Ministry of National Defense
- 1949Second Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Army
- 1950.04–06.30Fourth Army Chief of Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces
- 1950.06.30–07.27Commander of the South Gyeongsang Province Defence Command; killed at the Battle of Hadong
