Evening star., 1955-11-12
[Rhee Interview

from the Rhee lobby in the
United States but with the
sole intention Of rendering a
service to your country and
mine. ! should like to make q
few observations on the article,
'.Korea President Gives Per-
sonal Philosophy Of Democratic
Process" 1.-THE Star. October
SOD. and q word on the authors
subsequent articles. This in
terview by Earl H. Voss, ! feel,
does not enlighten the Ameri-
can public on the subject Of
President Syngrnan Rhee OF
South Korea.
At the outset Mr.. Voss asked:
zone of the recurring criticisms
Of you, MIR. President, is that
you are dictatorial. Long expe-
rience In the United States has
acquainted you with American
democracy and you know the
situation In Korea. Would you
please contrast the two forms
of government and explain why
at times different techniques
are necessary In Korea than
are used in the United States?"
Or. Rhee replied: II appre-
ciate the opportunity to clear
up this matter. I have politi-
cal opponents and Korea has
many enemies who call me q
despot. J dictator. anti -Ameri-
can warmonger and autocrat.
or contradictorily, an Amer
ican pnppet" " He added later:
Some of my foreign critics
have attempted TO spread the
idea ! am q dictator, but the
Korean people know the truth.
There is no justification
for anyone TO assert that Ko-
rea is Q dictatorship or police
state"
What else could DR.. Rhee
have said2 Would anyone
publicly admit he is q dictator
or q despot?
DR.. Rhee stated further, II
believe g nation is g democracy
II its president acts in ac-
cordance with the will Of the
people" ]" The Silenced Korean
people know Rhee does not act
according to their win yet they
are always subjected TO his.
Rhee is in fact the state and
the government.
In the summer Of 1852. See-
ing no chance Of re election by
q hostile National Assembly
and knowing his police could
handle the outcome, DR.. Rhee
used threats and violence to
force through that body q con-
stitutional amendment-which
he claimed was 'the win of
the people"-for election Of the
President by popular vote.
In that crisis the u. N. Com
mission for the Unification and
Reh a bilitation of Korea
(UNCURKo wrote him tJune
ID: THE commission notes
that you base your actions on
what you consider to be the
will Of the people. But 1t is the
basis Of every constitutional
democracy that the will of the
people can be expressed validly
only In the ways provided for
In the constitution. History
has taught that such methods
of gauging the will Of the peo-
pie as mass meetings, demon
strations and petitions, are
generally used where q real
respect for constitutional rights
and duties is lacking"
The ROK President also
commented during the inter-
view: Constitutions differ In
the amount Of power given the
Chief Executive, but so long
as he acts within the consti-
tuition. the Chief Executive
should not be called d dicta-
tor" Has DR.. Rhee always
acted within the constitu-
ton he solemnly swore to
protect? Documentary evil
dence clearly shows that he
has constantly changed the
constitution to suit himself.
Trying desperately to sustain
himself in power, he has had
to use tyrannical measures be-
/ cause he does not have the
loyal support Of his people.
Article 40. for instance,
provides that "no member Of
the National Assembly shall
be arrested Or detained with
out the consent Of the house
of which he is q member ex-
cept In cases Of fagrante de-
licto.' Yet 10 legislators were
jailed In June, l949, and con-
demned the following March
to prison sentences ranging
from three TO ten years, The
charges-to which the legis-
lators told the court they had
"confessed' under police tor
ture--included: Exposing in-
discretions Of cabinet mefn-
hers. onposinR cartaila exnendi-