page_title: Syngman Rhee
section_title: Political activities in the U.S. (1904–10, 1912–45), China and Korea (1910–12)
hierarchical_section_title: Syngman Rhee / Early life and career / Political activities in the U.S. (1904–10, 1912–45), China and Korea (1910–12)
caption_attribution_description: Syngman Rhee and Kim Kyu-shik in Shanghai
context_page_description: Syngman Rhee was a South Korean politician who served as the first President of South Korea, from 1948 to 1960. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea from 1919 to his impeachment in 1925 and from 1947 to 1948. As President of South Korea, Rhee's government was characterised by authoritarianism, corruption, limited economic development, strong anti-communism and by the late 1950s growing political instability and public opposition. He imbued the country with a tradition of authoritarian rule that lasted, with a few short breaks, until 1988.
  Born in Hwanghae Province, Joseon, Rhee attended an American Methodist school, where he converted to Christianity. He became involved in anti-Japanese activities after the 1894–95 First Sino-Japanese War and was imprisoned in 1899. Released in 1904, he moved to the United States, where he obtained degrees from American universities and met President Theodore Roosevelt. After a brief 1910–12 return to Korea, he moved to Hawaii in 1913.
context_section_description: In 1904, Rhee was released from prison at the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War with the help of Min Young-hwan. In November 1904, with the help of Min Yeong-hwan and Han Gyu-seol (한규설; 韓圭卨), Rhee moved to the United States. In August 1905, Rhee and Yun Byeong-gu (윤병구; 尹炳求) met with the Secretary of State John Hay and U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt at peace talks in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and attempted unsuccessfully to convince the US to help preserve independence for Korea.
  Rhee continued to stay in the United States; this move has been described as an "exile." He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from George Washington University in 1907, and a Master of Arts from Harvard University in 1908. In 1910, he obtained a PhD from Princeton University with the thesis "Neutrality as influenced by the United States" (미국의 영향하에 발달된 국제법상 중립).
  In August 1910, Rhee returned to Japanese occupied Korea. He served as a YMCA coordinator and missionary. In 1912, Rhee was implicated in the 105-Man Incident, and was shortly arrested. However, he fled to the United States in 1912 with M. C. Harris's rationale that Rhee was going to participate in the general meeting of Methodists in Minneapolis as the Korean representative.
  In the United States, Rhee attempted to convince Woodrow Wilson to help the people involved in the 105-Man Incident, but failed to bring any change. Soon afterwards, he met Park Yong-man, who was in Nebraska at the time. In February 1913, as a consequence of the meeting, he moved to Honolulu, Hawai'i and took over the Han-in Jung-ang Academy (한인중앙학원; 韓人中央學園). In Hawaii, he began to publish the Pacific Ocean Magazine (태평양잡지; 太平洋雜誌). In 1918, he established the Han-in Christian Church (한인기독교회; 韓人基督敎會). During this period, he opposed Park Yong-man's stance on foreign relations of Korea and brought about a split in the community. In December 1918, he was chosen as one of the Korean representatives to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 by the Korean National Association (대한인 국민회; 大韓人國民會) but failed to obtain permission to travel to Paris. After giving up travelling to Paris, Rhee held the First Korean Congress (한인대표자대회) in Philadelphia with Seo Jae-pil to make plans for the declaration and action of independence of Korea.
  Following the March 1st Movement in March 1919, Rhee discovered that he was appointed to the positions of foreign minister in the Noryeong Provisional Government (노령임시정부; 露領臨時政府), prime minister for the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai, and a position equivalent to President for the Hansung Provisional Government (한성임시정부; 漢城臨時政府). In June, in the acting capacity of the President of the Republic of Korea, he notified the prime ministers and the chairmen of peace conferences of Korea's independence. On 25 August, Rhee established the Korean Commission to America and Europe (구미위원부; 歐美委員部) in Washington, D.C. On 6 September, Rhee discovered that he had been appointed acting president for the Provisional Government in Shanghai. From December 1920 to May 1921, he moved to Shanghai and was the acting president for the Provisional Government.
  However, Rhee failed to efficiently act in the capacity of Acting President due to conflicts inside the provisional government in Shanghai. In October 1920, he returned to the US to participate in the Washington Naval Conference. During the conference, he attempted to set the problem of Korean independence as part of the agenda and campaigned for independence but was unsuccessful. In September 1922, he returned to Hawaii to focus on publication, education, and religion. In November 1924, Rhee was appointed the position of President-for-Life in the Korean Comrade Society (대한인동지회; 大韓人同志會).
  In March 1925, Rhee was impeached as the president of the Provisional Government in Shanghai over allegations of misuse of power and was removed from office. Nevertheless, he continued to claim the position of President by referring to the Hansung Provisional Government and continued independence activities through the Korean Commission to America and Europe. In the 
caption: Rhee and Vice President of the Korean Provisional Government Kim Kyu-sik in 1919
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