Editing Syngman Rhee (section)

=== Political activities at home and abroad ===
[[File:Dr. Syngman Rhee, Com'l. LCCN2016875712.jpg|left|thumb|Rhee's [[Library of Congress]] print, 1939]]
In 1904, Rhee was released from prison at the outbreak of the [[Russo-Japanese War]] with the help of [[Min Young-hwan]].<ref name="Doopedia" /> In November 1904, with the help of Min Yeong-hwan and Han Gyu-seol ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=한규설 |hanja=韓圭卨}}), Rhee moved to the United States. In August 1905, Rhee and Yun Byeong-gu ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=윤병구 |hanja=尹炳求}})<ref name="EncyKorea" /> met with US President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] at [[Treaty of Portsmouth#Portsmouth Peace Conference|peace talks]] in [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]] and attempted unsuccessfully to convince the US to help preserve independence for Korea.<ref>{{cite book |author=Yu Yeong-ik ({{lang|ko|유영익}}) |script-title=ko:이승만의 삶과 꿈 |year=1996 |publisher=[[JoongAng Ilbo]] Press |location=Seoul |isbn=89-461-0345-0 |pages=40–44 |language=ko |trans-title=Rhee Syngman's Life and Dream}}</ref>

Rhee continued to stay in the United States; this move has been described as an "exile".<ref name="Korea Times" /> He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from [[George Washington University]] in 1907, and a Master of Arts from [[Harvard University]] in 1908.<ref name="Doopedia" /><ref name="IEKAS" /> In 1910,<ref name="Doopedia" /> he obtained a PhD from [[Princeton University]]<ref name="CNNfyi" /><ref name="Cold War Files" /> with the thesis "Neutrality as influenced by the United States" ({{Korean|hangul=미국의 영향하에 발달된 국제법상 중립|labels=no}}).<ref name="EncyKorea" />

In August 1910, Rhee returned to [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese-occupied Korea]].<ref name="EncyKorea" />{{efn|In 1910, the [[Korean Peninsula]] was officially annexed by the Empire of Japan.}} He served as a [[YMCA]] coordinator and missionary.<ref name="coppa-256">{{Cite book|editor=Coppa, Frank J.|chapter=Rhee, Syngman|title=Encyclopedia of modern dictators: from Napoleon to the present|publisher=Peter Lang|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8204-5010-0|page=256|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gTv99LBYSL4C&pg=PA256}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jessup, John E.|chapter=Rhee, Syngman|title=An encyclopedic dictionary of conflict and conflict resolution, 1945–1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1998|isbn=978-0-313-28112-9|page=626|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hP7jJAkTd9MC&pg=PA626}}</ref> In 1912, Rhee was implicated in the [[105-Man Incident]],<ref name="EncyKorea" /> and was shortly arrested.<ref name="Doopedia" /> However, he fled to the United States in 1912<ref name="CNNfyi" /> with M. C. Harris's rationale that Rhee was going to participate in the general meeting of Methodists in [[Minneapolis]] as the Korean representative.<ref name="EncyKorea" />{{efn|He did participate in the meeting 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]], Hawaii, and took over the Han-in Jung-ang Academy ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=한인중앙학원 |hanja=韓人中央學園}}).<ref name="EncyKorea" /> In Hawaii, he began to publish the ''Pacific Ocean Magazine'' ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=태평양잡지 |hanja=太平洋雜誌}}).<ref name="Doopedia" /> In 1918, he established the Han-in Christian Church ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=한인기독교회 |hanja=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.<ref name="EncyKorea" /> In December 1918, he was chosen, along with Dr. Henry Chung DeYoung, as a Korean representative to the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference in 1919]] by the [[Korean National Association]] but they failed to obtain permission to travel to Paris. After giving up travelling to Paris, Rhee held the [[First Korean Congress]] in [[Philadelphia]] with [[Philip Jaisohn|Seo Jae-pil]] to make plans for future political activism concerning Korean independence.<ref name="EncyKorea" />

Following the [[March First Movement]] in March 1919, Rhee discovered that he was appointed to the positions of foreign minister for the {{ill|Korean National Assembly (Vladivostok)|lt=Korean National Assembly|ko|대한국민의회}} (a group in [[Vladivostok]]), prime minister for the [[Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea]] in Shanghai, and a position equivalent to president for the {{ill|Hanseong Provisional Government|ko|한성정부}}. 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 ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=구미위원부 |hanja=歐美委員部}}) in Washington, DC. On 6 September, Rhee discovered that he had been appointed acting president for the Provisional Government in Shanghai.<ref name="CNNfyi" /><ref name="Cold War Files" /> From December 1920 to May 1921, he moved to Shanghai and was the acting president for the Provisional Government.<ref name="EncyKorea" />

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.<ref name="Doopedia" /><ref name="EncyKorea" /> 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 ({{Korean|labels=no |hangul=대한인동지회 |hanja=大韓人同志會}}).<ref name="EncyKorea" />

In March 1925, Rhee was impeached as the president of the Provisional Government in Shanghai over allegations of misuse of power<ref name="KoreaTimes 13">{{cite news |last=Breen |first=Michael |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/issues/2014/03/363_97887.html |title=(13) Syngman Rhee: president who could have done more |date=2 November 2011 |access-date=7 April 2014 |work=[[The Korea Times]]}}</ref> and was removed from office. Nevertheless, he continued to claim the position of president by referring to the Hanseong Provisional Government and continued independence activities through the Korean Commission to America and Europe. In the beginning of 1933, he participated in the [[League of Nations]] conference in [[Geneva]] to bring up the question of Korean independence.<ref name="EncyKorea" />

In November 1939, Rhee and his wife left Hawaii for Washington, DC.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=O'Toole|first1=George Barry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2TVAAAAMAAJ&q=%22november+1939%22+|title=The China Monthly|last2=Tsʻai|first2=Jên-yü|date=1939|publisher=China Monthly, Incorporated|pages=12|language=en}}</ref> He focused on writing the book ''Japan Inside Out'' and published it during the summer of 1941. With the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] and the consequent [[Pacific War]], which began in December 1941, Rhee used his position as the chairman of the foreign relations department of the provisional government in [[Chongqing]] to convince President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and the [[United States Department of State]] to approve the existence of the Korean provisional government. As part of this plan, he cooperated with anti-Japan strategies conducted by the US [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS). In 1945, he participated in the [[United Nations Conference on International Organization]] as the leader of the Korean representatives to request the participation of the Korean provisional government.<ref name="EncyKorea" />

<gallery widths="160px" heights="200px">
File:1905-Syngman Rhee.jpg|Rhee in 1905 dressed to meet [[Theodore Roosevelt]]
File:RheeKim.jpg|Rhee and Vice President of the [[Korean Provisional Government]] [[Kim Kyu-sik]] in 1919
</gallery>