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177-608: The DPRK had prepared for an invasion of the ROK with support from the Soviet Union , which supplied the DPRK with weapons, tanks, and aircraft. Within a few days, the DPRK military captured and occupied Seoul , the capital city of the ROK. Originally, the goal of Operation Pokpung was to take control of the entire Korean Peninsula by 15 August 1950—50 days, with an average advance of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) each day—in commemoration of

354-594: 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

531-536: A communist uprising on Jeju Island , and the Mungyeong and Bodo League massacres were committed against suspected communist sympathisers, leaving at least 100,000 people dead. Rhee was president during the outbreak of the Korean War (1950–1953), in which North Korea invaded South Korea. He refused to sign the armistice agreement that ended the war, wishing to have the peninsula reunited by force. After

708-669: A renewed federation , an attempted coup against Gorbachev by hardline communists prompted the largest republics—Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus—to secede. On December 26, Gorbachev officially recognized the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Boris Yeltsin , the leader of the RSFSR, oversaw its reconstitution into the Russian Federation , which became the Soviet Union's successor state; all other republics emerged as fully independent post-Soviet states . During its existence,

885-757: A brief 1910–12 return to Korea, he moved to Hawaii in 1913. In 1919, following the Japanese suppression of the March First Movement , Rhee joined the right-leaning Korean Provisional Government in exile in Shanghai. From 1918 to 1924, he served as the first President of the Korean Provisional Government until he was impeached in 1925. He then returned to the United States, where he advocated and fundraised for Korean independence. In 1939, he moved to Washington, DC. In 1945, he

1062-591: A broadcast made on 26 June at 09:20 that South Korea had attacked the North in the section of Haeju , provoking counterattacks. In the light of the report by Peach and Rankin, UNCOK unanimously rejected the North Korean contention. There remains undisclosed information from the Soviet and North Korean side. Almost the entire forces from both sides were involved in the operation either directly or indirectly. The order

1239-550: A cease-fire. He also deliberately carried out some actions that would deter the armistice and reignite conflicts in the region, the most provocative one being his unilateral release of 25,000 prisoners of war in June 1953. Such actions, which hindered the progress of armistice talks, upset China and the North. Moreover, for such unpredictability in his authoritarian leadership, the Truman and Eisenhower administrations considered him one of

1416-592: A closer relationship with France and Britain. In 1939, half a year after the Munich Agreement , the USSR attempted to form an anti-Nazi alliance with France and Britain. Adolf Hitler proposed a better deal, which would give the USSR control over much of Eastern Europe through the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . In September, Germany invaded Poland, and the USSR also invaded later that month, resulting in

1593-545: A distant cousin of Rhee; but Lee committed suicide in 1960. After Rhee was exiled, Rhee In-soo, who is a descendant of Prince Yangnyeong just like Rhee, was adopted by him as his heir. Rhee's former Seoul residence, Ihwajang , is currently used for the presidential memorial museum. The Woo-Nam Presidential Preservation Foundation has been set up to honor his legacy. There is also a memorial museum located in Hwajinpo near Kim Il Sung's cottage. Rhee imbued South Korea with

1770-528: A fleet of strategic bombers and during war situation was to eradicate enemy infrastructure and nuclear capacity. The air force also had a number of fighters and tactical bombers to support the army in the war. Strategic missile forces had more than 1,400 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), deployed between 28 bases and 300 command centers. Rhee Syngman Syngman Rhee ( Korean :  이승만 ; Hanja :  李承晚 , pronounced [iː.sɯŋ.man] ; 26 March 1875 – 19 July 1965)

1947-528: A government which is now sabotaging the brave American effort to liberate fully and unify my unhappy nation." Rhee was strongly against the armistice negotiations the US entered into in 1953. Accordingly, in April of the same year, he demanded of President Eisenhower a total withdrawal of his troops from the peninsula if an armistice were to be signed, declaring that the ROK would rather fight on its own than negotiate

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2124-729: A governmental emergency meeting and stated the following to the members of the Workers' Party of Korea who did not realize the situation: Comrades, the forces of traitor Rhee Syngman have crossed the 38th parallel and started a full-scale invasion to challenge our northern republic. A report on behalf of the United Nations Commission on Korea was submitted on 24 June by two Australian military observers, Major F. S. B. Peach and Squadron Leader R. J. Rankin. The report made claim that ROK forces were organised entirely for defence and were in no condition to carry out an attack on

2301-451: A large scale against the forces of the North. The inadequate resources of the ROKA, in particular the absence of armor, air support and heavy artillery, rendered a South Korean invasion of the North militarily impossible. At 17:00 on 25 June the field observers had reported that North Korean forces had that morning mounted a surprise attack all along the 38th parallel. However, Kim had claimed in

2478-506: A legacy of authoritarian rule that lasted with only a few short breaks until 1988. One of those breaks came when the country adopted a parliamentary system with a figurehead president in response to Rhee's abuses. This Second Republic would only last a year before being overthrown in a 1961 military coup . In spite of this, however, the ensuing president Park Chung Hee expressed criticism of Rhee's regime, in particular for its lack of focus on economic and industrial development. Beginning with

2655-597: A new profitable market. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Stalin ordered Marxist-Leninist parties across the world to strongly oppose non-Marxist political parties, labour unions or other organizations on the left, which they labelled social fascists . In the usage of the Soviet Union, and of the Comintern and its affiliated parties in this period, the epithet fascist was used to describe capitalist society in general and virtually any anti-Soviet or anti-Stalinist activity or opinion. Stalin reversed himself in 1934 with

2832-564: A recommendation to members to provide assistance to the Republic of Korea in repelling the North Korean attack and restoring worldwide peace and security. Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR ), commonly known as the Soviet Union , was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by area , extending across eleven time zones and sharing borders with twelve countries , and

3009-439: A rural family of modest means. Rhee's family traced its lineage back to King Taejong of Joseon . He was a 16th-generation descendant of Grand Prince Yangnyeong through his second son, Yi Heun who was known as Jangpyeong Dojeong (장평도정;長平都正). This case makes him a distant relative of the mid-Joseon military officer, Yi Sun-sin (not be confused with Admiral Yi Sun-sin ). His mother was a member of Gimhae Kim clan . In 1877, at

3186-743: A split in the community. In December 1918, he was chosen, along with Dr. Henry Chung DeYoung, as a Korean representative to the 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 Seo Jae-pil to make plans for future political activism concerning Korean independence. Following

3363-475: A union of equals, in practice the Soviet Union was dominated by Russians . The domination was so absolute that for most of its existence, the country was commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as 'Russia'. While the Russian SFSR was technically only one republic within the larger union, it was by far the largest (both in terms of population and area), most powerful, and most highly developed. The Russian SFSR

3540-554: Is at the beginning stage of the operation, and only the major combatants are listed below. On 24 June 1950, the North Korean forces were ordered in their starting positions by 24:00. At 10:00 on 25 June The Pentagon received a report detailing that North Korean forces had invaded the South at several locations. The report claims combat was initiated at 04:40 when Ongjin was hit by North Korean artillery fire. Individual KPA units advanced 3 to 5 kilometres into South Korean territory within

3717-655: Is his background, his education , his profession . These are the questions that will determine the fate of the accused. That is the meaning and essence of the Red Terror ." During his rule, Stalin always made the final policy decisions. Otherwise, Soviet foreign policy was set by the commission on the Foreign Policy of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , or by

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3894-490: Is mined, all forests have been destroyed by contamination, while the northern and other parts of Russia have been affected by emissions. During the 1990s, people in the West were also interested in the radioactive hazards of nuclear facilities, decommissioned nuclear submarines , and the processing of nuclear waste or spent nuclear fuel . It was also known in the early 1990s that the USSR had transported radioactive material to

4071-621: The 38th parallel was overwhelmed by the North Korean offensive within a few hours. By 26 June, it was apparent that the Korean People's Army (KPA) would occupy Seoul. Rhee stated, "Every Cabinet member, including myself, will protect the government." At midnight on 28 June, the South Korean military destroyed the Han Bridge, preventing thousands of citizens from fleeing. On 28 June, North Korean soldiers occupied Seoul. During

4248-620: The American occupation government . The British diplomat Roger Makins later recalled, "the American propensity to go for a man rather than a movement — Giraud among the French in 1942, Chiang Kai-shek in China. Americans have always liked the idea of dealing with a foreign leader who can be identified as 'their man'. They are much less comfortable with movements." Makins further added the same

4425-708: The Barents Sea and Kara Sea , which was later confirmed by the Russian parliament. The crash of the K-141 Kursk submarine in 2000 in the west further raised concerns. In the past, there were accidents involving submarines K-19 , K-8 , a K-129 , K-27 , K-219 and K-278 Komsomolets . There were three power hierarchies in the Soviet Union: the legislature represented by the Supreme Soviet of

4602-538: The Blue House . During the flight, Rhee and Francesca Donner , his Austrian wife, went to the cockpit to thank the pilot and crew. Rhee's wife offered the pilot a valuable diamond ring in thanks, which was courteously declined. The former president, his wife, and their adopted son subsequently lived in exile in Honolulu, Hawaii. Rhee died of stroke complications in Honolulu on 19 July 1965. A week later, his body

4779-533: The Bodo League . When the North Korean army attacked in June, retreating South Korean forces executed the prisoners, along with several tens of thousands of Bodo League members. Both Rhee and Kim Il Sung wanted to unite the Korean peninsula under their respective governments, but the United States refused to give South Korea any heavy weapons, to ensure that its military could only be used for preserving internal order and self-defense. By contrast, Pyongyang

4956-631: The CIA covertly evacuating him on 28 April by helicopter. He spent the rest of his life in exile in Honolulu , Hawaii, and died of a stroke in 1965. Syngman Rhee was born on 26 March 1875, in Daegyeong, a village in Pyeongsan County , Hwanghae Province , Joseon . Rhee was the third but only surviving son out of three brothers and two sisters (his two older brothers both died in infancy) in

5133-621: The Era of Stagnation , was marked by economic decline, political corruption, and a rigid gerontocracy . Despite efforts to maintain the Soviet Union's superpower status, the economy struggled due to its centralized nature, technological backwardness, and inefficiencies. The vast military expenditures and burdens of maintaining the Eastern Bloc, further strained the Soviet economy. In the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev 's policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) aimed to revitalize

5310-559: The Georgian Affair of 1922, Lenin called for the Russian SFSR and other national Soviet republics to form a greater union which he initially named as the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia (Russian: Союз Советских Республик Европы и Азии , romanized : Soyuz Sovyetskikh Respublik Evropy i Azii ). Joseph Stalin initially resisted Lenin's proposal but ultimately accepted it, and with Lenin's agreement he changed

5487-524: The Hangang Bridge in an attempt to slow the KPA invasion. The demolition resulted in South Korean refugee casualties and stranded the ROKA 5th Division. KPA forces were able to cross the river later that day and occupy Seoul.A Soviet report regarding the invasion highlighted the inadequacies in KPA operations. Communication within the KPA was inefficient. The general staff did not direct battle, since from

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5664-599: The Imperial Newspaper ( 제국신문 ; 帝國新聞 ). He was also tortured . Examples of this included Japanese officers lighting oil paper which were pushed up his fingernails, and then smashing them one-by-one. Inactive or defunct Inactive or defunct 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

5841-755: The Land Forces , the Air Force , the Navy , Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) and the Internal Troops . The OGPU later became independent and in 1934 joined the NKVD secret police, and so its internal troops were under the joint leadership of the defense and internal commissariats. After World War II, Strategic Missile Forces (1959), Air Defense Forces (1948) and National Civil Defense Forces (1970) were formed, which ranked first, third, and sixth in

6018-750: The March First Movement in March 1919, Rhee discovered that he was appointed to the positions of foreign minister for the Korean National Assembly  [ ko ] (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 Hanseong Provisional Government  [ ko ] . In June, in

6195-528: The Moscow State Institute of International Relations . The Marxist-Leninist leadership of the Soviet Union intensely debated foreign policy issues and changed directions several times. Even after Stalin assumed dictatorial control in the late 1920s, there were debates, and he frequently changed positions. During the country's early period, it was assumed that Communist revolutions would break out soon in every major industrial country, and it

6372-609: The National Assembly . To circumvent this, Rhee attempted to amend the constitution to allow him to hold elections for the presidency by direct popular vote. When the Assembly rejected this amendment, Rhee ordered a mass arrest of opposition politicians and then passed the desired amendment in July 1952. During the following presidential election , he received 74% of the vote. At the time of its creation in 1948, South Korea

6549-790: The Popular Front program that called on all Marxist parties to join with all anti-Fascist political, labour, and organizational forces that were opposed to fascism , especially of the Nazi variety. The rapid growth of power in Nazi Germany encouraged both Paris and Moscow to form a military alliance, and the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance was signed in May 1935. A firm believer in collective security, Stalin's foreign minister Maxim Litvinov worked very hard to form

6726-582: The Procurator General and the Council of Ministers (known before 1946 as the Council of People's Commissars ), headed by the Chairman (Premier) and managing an enormous bureaucracy responsible for the administration of the economy and society. State and party structures of the constituent republics largely emulated the structure of the central institutions, although the Russian SFSR, unlike

6903-554: The Russian Civil War , the Soviet Union quickly became a one-party state under the Communist Party . Its early years under Lenin were marked by the implementation of socialist policies and the New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed for market-oriented reforms. The rise of Joseph Stalin in the late 1920s ushered in an era of intense centralization and totalitarianism. Stalin's rule was characterized by

7080-650: The Russian Empire , the State Council , which functioned from 1810 to 1917, was referred to as a Council of Ministers. The Soviets as workers' councils first appeared during the 1905 Russian Revolution . Although they were quickly suppressed by the Imperial army, after the February Revolution of 1917 , workers' and soldiers' Soviets emerged throughout the country and shared power with

7257-859: The Russian Provisional Government . The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin , demanded that all power be transferred to the Soviets, and gained support from the workers and soldiers. After the October Revolution , in which the Bolsheviks seized power from the Provisional Government in the name of the Soviets, Lenin proclaimed the formation of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic (RSFSR). During

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7434-458: The Soviet Union and the United States resulted in the creation of two states: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north and the Republic of Korea in the south. The DPRK inherited most of the industry, mining, and more than 80% of electricity generation. In contrast, the ROK owned the majority of productive agricultural areas, but these were barely enough to feed a densely populated and rapidly growing population. The period after

7611-411: The Third and Fourth Republic . Rhee began to be reevaluated after democratization in 1987, and in particular came to be associated with the so-called New Right movement, some members of which have argued that Rhee's achievements have been wrongly undervalued, and that he should be viewed positively as the founding father of the Republic of Korea. An early and prominent example of such literature

7788-405: The United Nations General Assembly recognized Korea's independence and established the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) through Resolution 112. In May 1948, the South Korean Constitutional Assembly election was held under the oversight of the UNTCOK. He was elected without competition to serve in the South Korean Constitutional Assembly ( 대한민국 제헌국회 ; 大韓民國制憲國會 ) and

7965-414: The United States Seventh Fleet to prevent any attack on Formosa and strengthened the United States forces in the Philippines . As a result of North Korea's invasion, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed United Nations Security Council Resolution 84 . The resolution authorised the use of the UN flag in operations against North Korean forces and those nations partaking. The UNSC provided

8142-489: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), saying that it was "overly juridical" and potentially infringed on national sovereignty. The Soviet Union later signed legally-binding human rights documents, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1973 (and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ), but they were neither widely known or accessible to people living under Communist rule, nor were they taken seriously by

8319-404: The Urutsyn area and consisted of 600 partisans. The city of Urutsyn was captured. The South Korean military engaged the North Korean warships, but the landings were successful. The KPA invasion was spearheaded by Soviet manufactured T-34 medium, diesel-fuelled tanks. The T-34 was equipped with high-velocity 85 mm guns and was lined with medium armour. The armor proved nearly impregnable to

8496-411: The Western Bloc during the Cold War . This period saw the USSR engage in an arms race, the Space Race , and proxy wars around the globe. The post-Stalin leadership, particularly under Nikita Khrushchev , initiated a de-Stalinization process, leading to a period of liberalization and relative openness known as the Khrushchev Thaw . However, the subsequent era under Leonid Brezhnev , referred to as

8673-401: The first probe to land on another planet . In 1985, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev , sought to reform the country through his policies of glasnost and perestroika . In 1989, various countries of the Warsaw Pact overthrew their Soviet-backed regimes , and nationalist and separatist movements erupted across the Soviet Union. In 1991, amid efforts to preserve the country as

8850-442: The general secretary (First Secretary from 1953 to 1966), the de facto highest office in the Soviet Union. Depending on the degree of power consolidation, it was either the Politburo as a collective body or the General Secretary, who always was one of the Politburo members, that effectively led the party and the country (except for the period of the highly personalized authority of Stalin, exercised directly through his position in

9027-485: The right to food , the right to work , and the right to education . The Soviet conception of human rights was very different from international law . According to Soviet legal theory , "it is the government who is the beneficiary of human rights which are to be asserted against the individual". The Soviet state was considered as the source of human rights. Therefore, the Soviet legal system considered law an arm of politics and it also considered courts agencies of

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9204-413: The system of appointments . All senior government officials and most deputies of the Supreme Soviet were members of the CPSU. Of the party heads themselves, Stalin (1941–1953) and Khrushchev (1958–1964) were Premiers. Upon the forced retirement of Khrushchev, the party leader was prohibited from this kind of double membership, but the later General Secretaries for at least some part of their tenure occupied

9381-433: The third-most populous country . An overall successor to the Russian Empire , it was nominally organized as a federal union of national republics , the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR . In practice, its government and economy were highly centralized . As a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , it was a flagship communist state . Its capital and largest city

9558-402: The war was marked by a very slow recovery, despite South Korea being one of the largest per capita recipients of foreign aid . The lack of central planning, minimal investment in infrastructure, poor use of aid funds, government corruption, political instability, and the threat of renewed war with the North made the country very unattractive to both domestic and foreign investors. Additionally,

9735-409: The "rogue allies" in East Asia and engaged in " powerplay ", or the construction of asymmetric alliances, which helped the US maximize economic and political influence over the ROK and increase ROK's dependency on the United States. On 27 July 1953, at last, "one of the 20th century's most vicious and frustrating wars" came to an end with no apparent victor. Ultimately, the Korean Armistice Agreement

9912-550: 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 ( 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

10089-481: The 1920s, it refused to rubber stamp proposals from the party and Council of Ministers. In 1990, Gorbachev introduced and assumed the position of the President of the Soviet Union , concentrated power in his executive office, independent of the party, and subordinated the government, now renamed the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR , to himself. Tensions grew between the Union-wide authorities under Gorbachev, reformists led in Russia by Boris Yeltsin and controlling

10266-436: The American-sponsored republic as another threat by Russia into a soft spot of the free countries.” It also claims “the [US] Administration held Soviet Union responsible as the motivating power behind the North Korean government.” The official North Korean account of the Korean War describes the battle under the title "Outstanding and Brilliant Victory," and claims that the battle was an anti-imperialist defence measure against

10443-411: The Communist authorities. Under Joseph Stalin , the death penalty was extended to adolescents as young as 12 years old in 1935. Sergei Kovalev recalled "the famous article 125 of the Constitution which enumerated all basic civil and political rights" in the Soviet Union. But when he and other prisoners attempted to use this as a legal basis for their abuse complaints, their prosecutor's argument

10620-420: The Council of Ministers rather than the Politburo after 1941). They were not controlled by the general party membership, as the key principle of the party organization was democratic centralism , demanding strict subordination to higher bodies, and elections went uncontested, endorsing the candidates proposed from above. The Communist Party maintained its dominance over the state mainly through its control over

10797-427: The DPRK and Soviet Union began final inspections for the war. Kim met Stalin in Moscow in April 1950 to formulate the invasion plan. Stalin permitted the plan on the condition that the Chinese allies were also in agreement. On 13 May Kim went to Beijing to meet Mao Zedong . On 14 May Mao reviewed Stalin's telegram and approved the North Korean invasion. Stalin had dispatched Lieutenant General Vasiliev , to prepare

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10974-425: The Imperial Legislature, the Jungchuwon ( 중추원 ; 中樞院 ). After entering civil service, Rhee was implicated in a plot to remove King Gojong from power through the recruitment of Park Yeong-hyo . As a result, Rhee was imprisoned in the Gyeongmucheong Prison ( 경무청 ; 警務廳 ) in January 1899. Other sources place the year arrested as 1897 and 1898. Rhee attempted to escape on the 20th day of imprisonment but

11151-402: The KPA was reorganized into two corps, and the divisions that were placed at the rear started to move as close as 10 to 15 km of north to the 38th parallel . Advanced forces from the KPA 2nd Division moved to Kumhwa on the same day. The entire division was placed in Kumhwa by 14 June. By 23 June all KPA forces involved in the invasion were positioned around the 38th parallel. On 18 June

11328-429: 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. Defunct After the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, Rhee

11505-403: The Latin alphabet: SSSR ) is the abbreviation of the Russian-language cognate of USSR, as written in Cyrillic letters . The Soviets used this abbreviation so frequently that audiences worldwide became familiar with its meaning. After this, the most common Russian initialization is Союз ССР (transliteration: Soyuz SSR ) which essentially translates to Union of SSRs in English. In addition,

11682-435: The Ministry of People's Defense sent Reconnaissance Order Number 1 (정찰명령 제1호) to division commanders to gather information about locations of the ROKA forces and terrain. On 22 June after completion of reconnaissance and reorganization and approval from Stalin, Soviet military advisors ordered the Ministry of People's Defense to send Engagement Order Number 1 (전투명령 제1호) to its divisions. In the meantime, Kim informed Stalin that

11859-399: The National Defense Corps in December 1950, intended to be a paramilitary militia, comprising men not in the military or police who were drafted into the corps for internal security duties. In the months that followed, tens of thousands of National Defense Corps men either starved or froze to death in their unheated barracks, as the men lacked winter uniforms and food. Even Rhee could not ignore

12036-455: The National Police during the Japanese occupation. Soon after taking office, Rhee enacted laws that severely curtailed political dissent. There was much controversy between Rhee and his leftist opponents. Allegedly, many of the leftist opponents were arrested and in some cases killed. The most controversial issue has been Kim Ku's assassination. On 26 June 1949, Kim Ku was assassinated by Ahn Doo-hee , who confessed that he assassinated Kim Ku by

12213-473: The North Korean occupation of Seoul, Rhee established a temporary government in Busan and created a defensive perimeter along the Naktong Bulge. A series of battles ensued, which would later be known collectively as the Battle of Naktong Bulge . After the Battle of Inchon in September 1950, the North Korean military was routed, and the United Nations Command (UNC) and South Korean forces not only liberated all of South Korea, but overran much of North Korea. In

12390-410: The OSS agent Preston Goodfellow who provided Rhee with the passport that allowed him to return to Korea was apparently promised by Rhee that if he came to power, he would reward Goodfellow with commercial concessions." Following the independence of Korea and a secret meeting with Douglas MacArthur , Rhee was flown in mid-October 1945 to Seoul aboard MacArthur's personal airplane, The Bataan . After

12567-403: The Park era, the standing of Rhee and his "diplomatic" faction of the Korean independence movement fell in the public consciousness in favor of Kim Ku and Ahn Jung-geun , who embodied the "armed resistance" faction of the right-wing independence movement, who were preferred by Park; Kim's son Kim Shin and Ahn's nephew Ahn Chun-saeng  [ ko ] both cooperated with the Park regimes of

12744-603: The Politburo after the deaths of Lenin and Stalin, as well as after Khrushchev's dismissal, itself due to a decision by both the Politburo and the Central Committee. All leaders of the Communist Party before Gorbachev died in office, except Georgy Malenkov and Khrushchev, both dismissed from the party leadership amid internal struggle within the party. Between 1988 and 1990, facing considerable opposition, Mikhail Gorbachev enacted reforms shifting power away from

12921-469: The Russian short form name Советский Союз (transliteration: Sovyetsky Soyuz , which literally means Soviet Union ) is also commonly used, but only in its unabbreviated form. Since the start of the Great Patriotic War at the latest, abbreviating the Russian name of the Soviet Union as СС has been taboo, the reason being that СС as a Russian Cyrillic abbreviation is associated with

13098-632: The Soviet Union and turned into SSRs, which was not recognized by most of the international community and was considered an illegal occupation . After the Soviet invasion of Finland , the Karelo-Finnish SSR was formed on annexed territory as a Union Republic in March 1940 and then incorporated into Russia as the Karelian ASSR in 1956. Between July 1956 and September 1991, there were 15 union republics (see map below). While nominally

13275-610: The Soviet Union in 1922. Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin came to power, inaugurating rapid industrialization and forced collectivization that led to significant economic growth but contributed to a famine between 1930 and 1933 that killed millions. The Soviet forced labour camp system of the Gulag was expanded. During the late 1930s, Stalin's government conducted the Great Purge to remove opponents, resulting in mass death, imprisonment, and deportation. In 1939,

13452-549: The Soviet Union , the government represented by the Council of Ministers , and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only legal party and the final policymaker in the country. At the top of the Communist Party was the Central Committee , elected at Party Congresses and Conferences. In turn, the Central Committee voted for a Politburo (called the Presidium between 1952 and 1966), Secretariat and

13629-601: The Soviet Union produced many significant social and technological achievements and innovations . It had the world's second-largest economy and largest standing military. An NPT-designated state , it wielded the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world . As an Allied nation, it was a founding member of the United Nations as well as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council . Before its dissolution,

13806-472: The Soviet Union undertook a campaign of de-Stalinization under Nikita Khrushchev , which saw reversals and rejections of Stalinist policies. This campaign caused tensions with Communist China . During the 1950s, the Soviet Union expanded its efforts in space exploration and took a lead in the Space Race with the first artificial satellite , the first human spaceflight , the first space station , and

13983-464: The Soviet Union was the world's largest country, a status that is retained by the Russian Federation . Covering a sixth of Earth's land surface, its size was comparable to that of North America . Two other successor states, Kazakhstan and Ukraine , rank among the top 10 countries by land area, and the largest country entirely in Europe, respectively. The European portion accounted for a quarter of

14160-662: The Soviet Union's priorities changed. Despite previous conflict with the United Kingdom , Vyacheslav Molotov dropped his post war border demands. The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc , which began following World War II in 1945. The term cold war is used because there

14337-517: The Soviet system but instead accelerated its unraveling. Nationalist movements gained momentum across the Soviet republics , and the control of the Communist Party weakened. The failed coup attempt in August 1991 against Gorbachev by hardline communists hastened the end of the Soviet Union , which formally dissolved on December 26, 1991, ending nearly seven decades of Soviet rule. With an area of 22,402,200 square kilometres (8,649,500 sq mi),

14514-520: The USSR and Nazi Germany signed a nonaggression pact , but in 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest land invasion in history, opening the Eastern Front of World War II . The Soviets played a decisive role in defeating the Axis powers , suffering an estimated 27 million casualties , which accounted for most Allied losses. In the aftermath of the war , the Soviet Union consolidated

14691-600: The USSR from the United States . The country's highest mountain was Communism Peak (now Ismoil Somoni Peak ) in Tajikistan , at 7,495 metres (24,590 ft). The USSR also included most of the world's largest lakes; the Caspian Sea (shared with Iran ), and Lake Baikal , the world's largest (by volume) and deepest freshwater lake that is also an internal body of water in Russia. Neighbouring countries were aware of

14868-816: The USSR was one of the world's two superpowers through its hegemony in Eastern Europe, global diplomatic and ideological influence (particularly in the Global South ), military and economic strengths, and scientific accomplishments. The word soviet is derived from the Russian word sovet (Russian: совет ), meaning 'council', 'assembly', 'advice', ultimately deriving from the proto-Slavic verbal stem of * vět-iti ('to inform'), related to Slavic věst ('news'), English wise . The word sovietnik means 'councillor'. Some organizations in Russian history were called council (Russian: совет ). In

15045-430: The USSR. Moscow eventually stopped threatening other states, and instead worked to open peaceful relationships in terms of trade, and diplomatic recognition. The United Kingdom dismissed the warnings of Winston Churchill and a few others about a continuing Marxist-Leninist threat, and opened trade relations and de facto diplomatic recognition in 1922. There was hope for a settlement of the pre-war Tsarist debts, but it

15222-625: The United States after his exile following the Gapsin Coup . He worked as the head and the main writer of the newspapers Hyŏpsŏnghoe Hoebo  [ ko ] and Maeil Sinmun  [ ko ] , the latter being the first daily newspaper in Korea. During this period, Rhee earned money by teaching the Korean language to Americans. In 1895, Rhee graduated from Pai Chai School. Rhee became involved in Anti-Japanese circles after

15399-503: The United States' proposal in the 1945 Moscow Conference to establish a trusteeship for Korea and the cooperation between the left-wing (communist) and the right-wing (nationalist) parties. He also refused to join the US-Soviet Joint Commission ( 미소공동위원회 ; 美蘇共同委員會 ) as well as the negotiations with the north. For decades, the Korean independence movement was torn by factionalism and in-fighting, and most of

15576-424: 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

15753-496: The accident were unknown, 4,000 new cases of thyroid cancer which resulted from the accident's contamination were reported at the time of the accident, but this led to a relatively low number of deaths (WHO data, 2005). Another major radioactive accident was the Kyshtym disaster . The Kola Peninsula was one of the places with major problems. Around the industrial cities of Monchegorsk and Norilsk , where nickel , for example,

15930-639: 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, DC. 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

16107-460: The age of two, Rhee and his family moved to Seoul , where he had traditional Confucian education in various seodang in Nakdong ( 낙동 ; 駱洞 ) and Dodong ( 도동 ; 桃洞 ). When Rhee was six years old a smallpox infection rendered him virtually blind until he was treated with western medicine, possibly by a Japanese doctor. Rhee was portrayed as a potential candidate for the gwageo ,

16284-829: The areas of North Korea taken by the UNC forces, elections were supposed to be administered by the United Nations but instead were taken over and administered by the South Koreans. Rhee insisted on Bukjin Tongil – ending war by conquering North Korea, but after the Chinese entered the war in November 1950, the UNC forces were thrown into retreat. During this period of crisis, Rhee ordered the December massacres of 1950. Rhee

16461-527: The bay and captured the point in the direction of Kimpo Airfield . The forces from the amphibious landings advanced and had taken the port of Tubuiri. The main force advanced through the Uijeongbu corridor towards Seoul. The South Korean forces did not have enough aircraft or tanks to counter the invasion. A significant portion of the South Korean forces, numbering 65,000 combat troops and 33,000 support troops, began deserting. On 28 June ROK forces demolished

16638-485: The beginning of the forward advance, staff communication was weak. The unit commanders did not receive commands from senior staff. The report stated that the KPA command did not have battle experience. Once Soviet military advisers withdrew, the battle was poorly commanded. The directed use of tanks and artillery in battle was tactically unsound. However, the KPA soldiers were enthusiastic and dedicated to completing their role. The people of North Korea responded positively to

16815-595: 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

16992-673: The charges by disguising him as her patient and go to his sister's house. Rhee acted as one of the forerunners of the Korean independence movement through grassroots organizations such as the Hyeopseong Club and the Independence Club . Rhee organized several protests against corruption and the influences of the Japan and the Russian Empire . As a result, in November 1898, Rhee attained the rank of Uigwan ( 의관 ; 議官 ) in

17169-542: The corresponding vice-presidential election by a wide margin, the opposition rejected the result as rigged, which triggered protests. These escalated into the student-led April Revolution , in which police shot demonstrators in Masan . The resulting scandal caused Rhee to resign on 26 April, ushering in the Second Republic of Korea . Despite this, protesters continued to converge on the presidential palace , leading to

17346-501: The country was limited. The state restricted rights of citizens to private property . According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , human rights are the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." including the right to life and liberty , freedom of expression , and equality before the law ; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in culture ,

17523-660: The country's area and was the cultural and economic center. The eastern part in Asia extended to the Pacific Ocean to the east and Afghanistan to the south, and, except some areas in Central Asia , was much less populous. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) east to west across 11 time zones , and over 7,200 kilometres (4,500 mi) north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra , taiga , steppes , desert and mountains . The USSR, like Russia , had

17700-478: The deaths of so many and ordered an investigation. It was revealed that the commander of the National Defense Corps, General Kim Yun Gun, had stolen millions of American dollars that were intended to heat the barracks and feed and clothe the men. Kim and five other officers were publicly shot at Daegu on 12 August 1951, following their convictions for corruption. In the spring of 1951, Rhee—who

17877-553: The duty of the Russian Bolsheviks to protect what they had in Russia, and avoid military confrontations that might destroy their bridgehead. Russia was now a pariah state, along with Germany. The two came to terms in 1922 with the Treaty of Rapallo that settled long-standing grievances. At the same time, the two countries secretly set up training programs for the illegal German army and air force operations at hidden camps in

18054-637: The end of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, which saw Joseon passed from the Chinese sphere of influence to the Japanese . Rhee was implicated in a plot to take revenge for the assassination of Empress Myeongseong , the wife of King Gojong who was assassinated by Japanese agents (known in Korean history as the Chunsaengmun incident  [ ko ] ); however, a female American physician Georgiana E. Whiting helped him avoid

18231-406: The fear of recreating a colonial dependence on Japan prevented Seoul from opening the country to trade and investment with its prosperous neighbor. After the war ended in July 1953, South Korea struggled to rebuild following nationwide devastation. The country remained at a Third World level of development and was heavily reliant on US aid. Rhee was easily re-elected for what should have been

18408-527: The fifth anniversary of Gwangbokjeol . However, heavy losses were inflicted on the DPRK's II Corps by the ROK's 6th Infantry Division , stalling the DPRK's advance in the east. This delay enabled the United States to join the fight in support of the ROK on 27 June. On 7 July, the United Nations Command was established to direct a multinational military response against the DPRK. Joseph Stalin ’s influence over Kim Il Sung dictated

18585-403: The fighting ended, South Korea's economy lagged behind North Korea's and was heavily reliant on US aid. After being re-elected in 1956 , he pushed to modify the constitution to remove the two-term limit, despite opposition protests. He was reelected uncontested in March 1960 , after his opponent Chough Pyung-ok died from cancer before the election took place. After Rhee's ally Lee Ki-poong won

18762-417: The final time in 1956 , since the 1948 constitution limited the president to two consecutive terms. However, soon after being sworn in, he had the legislature amend the constitution to allow the incumbent president to run for an unlimited number of terms, despite protests from the opposition. In March 1960 , the 84-year-old Rhee won his fourth term in office as president. His victory was assured with 100% of

18939-598: The first three hours. The ROKA put up a strong resistance in the direction of Ongjin, Kaesong and Seoul . Ongjin, Kaesong and Sinyuri were captured on the first day. KPA forces advanced 12 kilometres in the Sunsen direction and 8 kilometres along the eastern coast. Two amphibious landings occurred on the coast south of Kangnung at 05:25. One landing occurred in the Korio region and consisted of two battalions of naval infantry and 1,000 partisans. The other landing occurred in

19116-540: The forced collectivization of agriculture , rapid industrialization , and the Great Purge , which eliminated perceived enemies of the state. The Soviet Union played a crucial role in the Allied victory in World War II , but at a tremendous human cost, with millions of Soviet citizens perishing in the conflict. The Soviet Union emerged as one of the world's two superpowers, leading the Eastern Bloc in opposition to

19293-723: The founding republics who signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR in December 1922. In 1924, during the national delimitation in Central Asia, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were formed from parts of Russia's Turkestan ASSR and two Soviet dependencies, the Khorezm and Bukharan PSPs . In 1929, Tajikistan was split off from the Uzbekistan SSR. With the constitution of 1936, the Transcaucasian SFSR

19470-469: The government of Korea must be established as an independent entity. In the same month, he created a plan based on this idea and moved to Washington, DC, from December 1946 to April 1947 to lobby support for the plan. During the visit, Harry S. Truman 's policies of Containment and the Truman Doctrine , which was announced in March 1947, enforced Rhee's anti-communist ideas. In November 1947,

19647-497: The government. Extensive extrajudicial powers were given to the Soviet secret police agencies . In practice, the Soviet government significantly curbed the rule of law , civil liberties , protection of law and guarantees of property , which were considered as examples of "bourgeois morality" by Soviet law theorists such as Andrey Vyshinsky . The USSR and other countries in the Soviet Bloc had abstained from affirming

19824-580: 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 US 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

20001-460: The high levels of pollution in the Soviet Union but after the dissolution of the Soviet Union it was discovered that its environmental problems were greater than what the Soviet authorities admitted. The Soviet Union was the world's second largest producer of harmful emissions. In 1988, total emissions in the Soviet Union were about 79% of those in the United States. But since the Soviet GNP

20178-466: The highest bodies of the party and making the Supreme Soviet less dependent on them. The Congress of People's Deputies was established, the majority of whose members were directly elected in competitive elections held in March 1989, the first in Soviet history. The Congress now elected the Supreme Soviet, which became a full-time parliament, and much stronger than before. For the first time since

20355-795: The ill-equipped ROKA which lacked tanks and antitank guns capable of penetrating the T-34's armor. The T-34 weighed 29 tons, making it light enough to withstand limits on Korean railroad bridges. Air support was provided by 150 Soviet manufactured Yakovlev Yak-9 fighters, Ilyushin Il-10 attack bombers and Yakovlev Yak-11 trainer aircraft. The aircraft provided close air support and also bombed Seoul and strategic locations. The battle continued on 26 June with further advances by KPA forces into South Korea. The Kaesong and Ongjin peninsula were cleared. The 1st and 4th Divisions captured Tongducheb and Bunsan . The 2nd Division took Siunseen . The 6th Division crossed

20532-658: The infamous Schutzstaffel of Nazi Germany , as SS is in English. In English-language media, the state was referred to as the Soviet Union or the USSR. The Russian SFSR dominated the Soviet Union to such an extent that, for most of the Soviet Union's existence, it was colloquially, but incorrectly, referred to as Russia . The history of the Soviet Union began with the ideals of the Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following

20709-745: The invasion plan before the Stalin-Kim meeting was held in Moscow in April. On 29 May Vasiliev and General Kang Kon , the Chief of the General Staff of the KPA, finalised the invasion plan. On 10 June the DPRK Ministry of People's Defense secretly summoned all division and brigade commanders to Pyongyang for a meeting. Kang Kon ordered troops to be fully ready for an offensive operation in disguise of defensive operation by 23 June. On 11 June

20886-510: The late 1950s growing political instability and public opposition . Born in Hwanghae Province , Joseon, Rhee attended an American Methodist school, where he converted to Christianity . He became a Korean independence activist and was imprisoned for his activities in 1899. After his release in 1904, he moved to the United States, where he obtained degrees from American universities and met President Theodore Roosevelt . After

21063-611: The late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including the creation of new state commissions and committees. It gained additional powers relating to the approval of the Five-Year Plans and the government budget . The Supreme Soviet elected a Presidium (successor of the Central Executive Committee ) to wield its power between plenary sessions, ordinarily held twice a year, and appointed the Supreme Court ,

21240-546: The late 1970s and early 1980s. The constitution , which was promulgated in 1924 , 1936 and 1977 , did not limit state power. No formal separation of powers existed between the Party, Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers that represented executive and legislative branches of the government. The system was governed less by statute than by informal conventions, and no settled mechanism of leadership succession existed. Bitter and at times deadly power struggles took place in

21417-499: The leaders of the independence movement hated each other as much as they hated the Japanese. Rhee, who had lived for decades in the United States, was a figure known only from afar in Korea, and therefore regarded as a more or less acceptable compromise candidate for the conservative factions. More importantly, Rhee spoke fluent English, whereas none of his rivals did, and therefore he was the Korean politician most trusted and favored by

21594-469: The mostly ceremonial position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet , the nominal head of state . The institutions at lower levels were overseen and at times supplanted by primary party organizations . However, in practice the degree of control the party was able to exercise over the state bureaucracy, particularly after the death of Stalin, was far from total, with the bureaucracy pursuing different interests that were at times in conflict with

21771-410: The name to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), although all republics began as socialist soviet and did not change to the other order until 1936 . In addition, in the regional languages of several republics, the word council or conciliar in the respective language was only quite late changed to an adaptation of the Russian soviet and never in others, e.g. Ukrainian SSR . СССР (in

21948-417: The newly elected Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR , and communist hardliners. On 19–21 August 1991, a group of hardliners staged a coup attempt . The coup failed, and the State Council of the Soviet Union became the highest organ of state power 'in the period of transition'. Gorbachev resigned as General Secretary, only remaining President for the final months of the existence of the USSR. The judiciary

22125-504: The news of the invasion. They had a strong belief in the North Korean government and the KPA. In the United States, the invasion was reported in mainstream media as an act of aggression by North Korea. The event also became an additional source of political division during the Cold War period. A 27 June 1950 New York Times article headlined "U.S. Blames Russia" describes the event as an “act of aggression”, “lawless” and "an invasion of

22302-608: The official Soviet system of importance (ground forces were second, Air Force fourth, and Navy fifth). The army had the greatest political influence. In 1989, there served two million soldiers divided between 150 motorized and 52 armored divisions. Until the early 1960s, the Soviet navy was a rather small military branch, but after the Caribbean crisis , under the leadership of Sergei Gorshkov , it expanded significantly. It became known for battlecruisers and submarines. In 1989, there served 500 000 men. The Soviet Air Force focused on

22479-646: The opposition Democratic Party claimed the election was rigged . This triggered anger among segments of the Korean populace on 19 April. When police shot demonstrators in Masan , the student-led April Revolution forced Rhee to resign on 26 April. On 28 April 1960, a DC-4 belonging to the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), piloted by Captain Harry B. Cockrell Jr. and operated by Civil Air Transport , covertly flew Rhee out of South Korea as protesters converged on

22656-477: The order of Kim Chang-ryong . Ahn Doo-hee was described by the British historian Max Hastings as one of Rhee's "creatures". It soon became apparent that Rhee's style of government was rigidly authoritarian. He allowed the internal security force (headed by his right-hand man, Kim Chang-ryong) to detain and torture suspected communists and North Korean agents. His government also oversaw several massacres, including

22833-451: The other constituent republics, for most of its history had no republican branch of the CPSU, being ruled directly by the union-wide party until 1990. Local authorities were organized likewise into party committees , local Soviets and executive committees . While the state system was nominally federal, the party was unitary. The state security police (the KGB and its predecessor agencies ) played an important role in Soviet politics. It

23010-494: The partition of Poland. In response, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II . Up until his death in 1953, Joseph Stalin controlled all foreign relations of the Soviet Union during the interwar period . Despite the increasing build-up of Germany 's war machine and the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , the Soviet Union did not cooperate with any other nation, choosing to follow its own path. However, after Operation Barbarossa ,

23187-429: The party's highest body the Politburo . Operations were handled by the separate Ministry of Foreign Affairs . It was known as the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (or Narkomindel), until 1946. The most influential spokesmen were Georgy Chicherin (1872–1936), Maxim Litvinov (1876–1951), Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), Andrey Vyshinsky (1883–1954) and Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989). Intellectuals were based in

23364-404: The party, nor was the party itself monolithic from top to bottom, although factions were officially banned . The Supreme Soviet (successor of the Congress of Soviets ) was nominally the highest state body for most of the Soviet history, at first acting as a rubber stamp institution, approving and implementing all decisions made by the party. However, its powers and functions were extended in

23541-403: 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. In November 1939, Rhee and his wife left Hawaii for Washington, DC. He focused on writing

23718-403: The return to Korea, he assumed the posts of president of the Independence Promotion Central Committee ( 독립촉성중앙위원회 ; 獨立促成中央協議會 ), chairman of the Korean People's Representative Democratic Legislature , and president of the Headquarters for Unification ( 민족통일총본부 ; 民族統一總本部 ). At this point, he was strongly anti-communist and opposed foreign intervention; he opposed the Soviet Union and

23895-401: The risk of a lengthy battle. In the lead up to April 1950, Kim requested to launch an invasion on repeated occasions, but Stalin did not allow Kim to launch the invasion until favorable tactical conditions in the Far East emerged. Since March 1950, the Korean People's Army (KPA) started to build up its armament and redeployed its troops to get ready to attack South Korea. On 16 May officers of

24072-439: The size of the army being bloated by hundreds of thousands of "ghost soldiers" who only existed on paper, allowing their officers to steal pay that would have been due had these soldiers actually existed. The problems with low morale experienced by the army were largely due to the corruption of the Rhee regime. The worst scandal during the war—indeed of the entire Rhee government—was the National Defense Corps Incident . Rhee created

24249-469: The struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare , propaganda campaigns, espionage , far-reaching embargoes , rivalry at sports events and technological competitions such as the Space Race . Constitutionally, the USSR was a federation of constituent Union Republics, which were either unitary states, such as Ukraine or Byelorussia (SSRs), or federations, such as Russia or Transcaucasia (SFSRs), all four being

24426-408: The suppression of the Jeju uprising on Jeju Island , of which South Korea's Truth Commission reported 14,373 victims, 86% at the hands of the security forces and 13.9% at the hands of communist rebels, and the Mungyeong Massacre . By early 1950, Rhee had about 30,000 alleged communists in his jails, and had about 300,000 suspected sympathizers enrolled in an official "re-education" movement called

24603-530: The territory occupied by the Red Army , forming satellite states , and undertook rapid economic development which cemented its status as a superpower . Geopolitical tensions with the US led to the Cold War . The American-led Western Bloc coalesced into NATO in 1949, prompting the Soviet Union to form its own military alliance, the Warsaw Pact , in 1955. Neither side engaged in direct military confrontation, and instead fought on an ideological basis and through proxy wars . In 1953, following Stalin's death ,

24780-448: The timing of the invasion. Kim Il Sung and ROK leader Syngman Rhee both wanted to reunify Korea . Kim's objective was to achieve reunification through force. Kim was not able to achieve his goal without Stalin's assistance. On 30 January 1950, Stalin contacted ambassador Terenty Shtykov and explained he was ready to help organize an invasion plan. Stalin noted that in order to capture South Korea, Kim would need to be prepared to minimise

24957-472: The traditional Korean civil service examination , but in 1894 reforms abolished the gwageo system, and in April he enrolled in the Paechae School  [ ko ] , an American Methodist school, where he converted to Christianity. Rhee studied English and sinhakmun ( 신학문 ; 新學問 ; lit.  new subjects). Near the end of 1895, he joined a Hyeopseong (Mutual Friendship) Club ( 협성회 ; 協成會 ) created by Seo Jae-pil , who returned from

25134-492: The truth". Human rights in the Soviet Union were severely limited. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state from 1927 until 1953 and a one-party state until 1990. Freedom of speech was suppressed and dissent was punished. Independent political activities were not tolerated, whether these involved participation in free labour unions , private corporations , independent churches or opposition political parties . The freedom of movement within and especially outside

25311-413: The vote after the main opposition candidate, Cho Byeong-ok , died shortly before the 15 March elections. Rhee wanted his protégé, Lee Ki-poong , elected as Vice President—a separate office under Korean law at that time. When Lee, who was running against Chang Myon (the ambassador to the United States during the Korean War, a member from the opposition Democratic Party) won the vote with a wide margin,

25488-414: The vote; the second candidate, Kim Ku , received 6.7% of the vote. On 15 August the Republic of Korea was formally established in the south, and Rhee was inaugurated as its first president. The next month, on 9 September, the north also proclaimed statehood as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea . Rhee's relations with the chinilpa Korean elites who had collaborated with the Japanese were, in

25665-405: The war would be started on 25 June, and Stalin consented to the plan. As scheduled, the KPA began the operation and crossed the 38th parallel at 04:00 KST on 25 June 1950. There have been conflicting accounts regarding the opening phases of the battle from sources on both sides. This resulted in discrepancies about which army initiated military action on 25 June 1950. When the war began, Kim held

25842-487: The words of the South Korean historian Kyung Moon Hwang, often "contentious", but in the end an understanding was reached in which, in exchange for their support, Rhee would not purge the elites. In particular, the Koreans who had served in the colonial-era National Police, whom the Americans had retained after August 1945, were promised by Rhee that their jobs would not be threatened by him. Upon independence in 1948, 53% of South Korean police officers were men who had served in

26019-403: The world's longest border , measuring over 60,000 kilometres (37,000 mi), or 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 circumferences of Earth. Two-thirds of it was a coastline . The country bordered Afghanistan , the People's Republic of China , Czechoslovakia , Finland , Hungary , Iran , Mongolia , North Korea , Norway , Poland , Romania , and Turkey from 1945 to 1991. The Bering Strait separated

26196-451: The “aggressive, imperialist” United States and that the “country and people were faced with a grave danger.” On 30 June President of the United States Harry S. Truman released a statement that indicated the invasion of South Korea had grown the threat of communism to the Pacific area and the United States. In response to the invasion, Truman ordered United States provide assistance with air and land forces in Korea. Moreover, Truman ordered

26373-406: The “enemies of the people”. Further North Korean accounts claim that the United States' imperialists had prompted South Korean forces to launch a surprise armed invasion of the DPRK at dawn on 25 June, with over 100,000 South Korean soldiers penetrating two kilometres into North Korean territory, aiming to conquer the [North] Korean people. The report refers to the South Korean troops as “puppets” of

26550-417: Was Moscow . The Soviet Union's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917. The new government, led by Vladimir Lenin , established the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the world's first constitutionally socialist state . The revolution was not accepted by all within the Russian Republic , resulting in the Russian Civil War . The RSFSR and its subordinate republics were merged into

26727-451: Was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee is also known by his art name Unam ( 우남 ; 雩南 ). 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, limited economic development , and in

26904-441: Was absolutely committed to reunifying Korea under his leadership and strongly supported MacArthur's call for going all-out against China, even at the risk of provoking a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Hastings notes that, during the war, Rhee's official salary was equal to $ 37.50 per month. Both at the time and since, there has been much speculation about precisely how Rhee managed to live on this amount. The entire Rhee regime

27081-408: Was also the industrial center of the Soviet Union. Historian Matthew White wrote that it was an open secret that the country's federal structure was 'window dressing' for Russian dominance. For that reason, the people of the USSR were usually called 'Russians', not 'Soviets', since 'everyone knew who really ran the show'. Under the Military Law of September 1925, the Soviet Armed Forces consisted of

27258-416: Was among the poorest countries in the world. Twelve years later, in 1960, it held this position with a per capita income similar to that of Haiti . Although South Korea was predominantly an agricultural society that had experienced some industrialization during the Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, mainly in the northern provinces, it faced significant challenges. The division of Korea in 1945 by

27435-419: Was carried out within the terms of the Soviet Civil Code. Some Soviet legal scholars even said that "criminal repression" may be applied in the absence of guilt. Martin Latsis , chief of Soviet Ukraine 's secret police explained: "Do not look in the file of incriminating evidence to see whether or not the accused rose up against the Soviets with arms or words. Ask him instead to which class he belongs, what

27612-399: Was caught and was sentenced to life imprisonment through the Pyeongniwon ( 평리원 ; 平理院 ). He was imprisoned in the Hanseong Prison ( 한성감옥서 ; 漢城監獄署 ). In prison, Rhee translated and compiled The Sino–Japanese War Record ( 청일전기 ; 淸日戰紀 ), wrote The Spirit of Independence ( 독립정신 ; 獨立精神 ), compiled the New English–Korean Dictionary ( 신영한사전 ; 新英韓辭典 ) and wrote in

27789-412: Was consequently selected to be Speaker of the Assembly. Rhee was highly influential in creating the policy stating that the president of South Korea had to be elected by the National Assembly. The 1948 Constitution of the Republic of Korea was adopted on 17 July 1948. On 20 July 1948, Rhee was elected president of the Republic of Korea in the 1948 South Korean presidential election with 92.3% of

27966-404: Was dissolved, resulting in its constituent republics of Armenia , Georgia and Azerbaijan being elevated to Union Republics, while Kazakhstan and Kirghizia were split off from the Russian SFSR, resulting in the same status. In August 1940, Moldavia was formed from parts of Ukraine and Soviet-occupied Bessarabia , and Ukrainian SSR. Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania were also annexed by

28143-401: Was flown to Tokyo aboard a US military aircraft. Over the objections of the Department of State, the US military government allowed Rhee to return to Korea by providing him with a passport in October 1945, despite the refusal of the Department of State to issue Rhee with a passport. The British historian Max Hastings wrote that there was "at least a measure of corruption in the transaction" as

28320-434: Was instrumental in the Red Terror and Great Purge , but was brought under strict party control after Stalin's death. Under Yuri Andropov , the KGB engaged in the suppression of political dissent and maintained an extensive network of informers, reasserting itself as a political actor to some extent independent of the party-state structure, culminating in the anti-corruption campaign targeting high-ranking party officials in

28497-424: Was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers , but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars . The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against Nazi Germany in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment,

28674-450: Was not independent of the other branches of government. The Supreme Court supervised the lower courts ( People's Court ) and applied the law as established by the constitution or as interpreted by the Supreme Soviet. The Constitutional Oversight Committee reviewed the constitutionality of laws and acts. The Soviet Union used the inquisitorial system of Roman law , where the judge, procurator , and defence attorney collaborate to "establish

28851-415: Was notorious for its corruption, with everyone in the government from the President downwards stealing as much they possibly could from both the public purse and from United States aid. The Rhee regime engaged in the "worst excesses of corruption", with South Korean soldiers going unpaid for months as their officers embezzled their pay, equipment provided by the United States being sold on the black market, and

29028-459: Was only 54% of that of the United States, this means that the Soviet Union generated 1.5 times more pollution than the United States per unit of GNP. The Soviet Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was the first major accident at a civilian nuclear power plant . Unparalleled in the world, it resulted in a large number of radioactive isotopes being released into the atmosphere. Radioactive doses were scattered relatively far. Although long-term effects of

29205-477: Was repeatedly postponed. Formal recognition came when the new Labour Party came to power in 1924. All the other countries followed suit in opening trade relations. Henry Ford opened large-scale business relations with the Soviets in the late 1920s, hoping that it would lead to long-term peace. Finally, in 1933, the United States officially recognized the USSR, a decision backed by the public opinion and especially by US business interests that expected an opening of

29382-404: Was returned to US-controlled Korea by the US military, and on July 20, 1948 he was elected the first president of the Republic of Korea by the National Assembly , ushering in the First Republic of Korea. As president, Rhee continued his hardline anti-communist and pro-American views that characterized much of his earlier political career. Early on in his presidency, his government put down

29559-433: Was returned to Seoul and buried in the Seoul National Cemetery . Rhee was married to Seungseon Park from 1890 to 1910. Park divorced Rhee shortly after the death of their son Rhee Bong-su in 1908, supposedly because their marriage had no intimacy due to his political activities. In February 1933, Rhee met Austrian Franziska Donner in Geneva. At the time, Rhee was participating in a League of Nations meeting and Donner

29736-408: Was signed by military commanders from China, North Korea and the UNC, led by the US. Its signatories did not include the ROK, as Rhee refused to agree to the armistice, and neither was it supposed to be a permanent cease-fire, as a peace treaty was never signed. Because of widespread discontent with Rhee's corruption and political repression, it was considered unlikely that Rhee would be re-elected by

29913-482: Was that "the Constitution was written not for you, but for American Negroes, so that they know how happy the lives of Soviet citizens are". Crime was determined not as the infraction of law, instead, it was determined as any action which could threaten the Soviet state and society. For example, a desire to make a profit could be interpreted as a counter-revolutionary activity punishable by death. The liquidation and deportation of millions of peasants in 1928–31

30090-506: Was the Russian responsibility to assist them. The Comintern was the weapon of choice. A few revolutions did break out, but they were quickly suppressed (the longest lasting one was in Hungary)—the Hungarian Soviet Republic —lasted only from 21 March 1919 to 1 August 1919. The Russian Bolsheviks were in no position to give any help. By 1921, Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin realized that capitalism had stabilized itself in Europe and there would not be any widespread revolutions anytime soon. It became

30267-427: 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

30444-443: Was the best man for the Americans to back because of his fluent English and his ability to talk with authority to American officers about American subjects. Once it became clear from October 1945 onward that Rhee was the Korean politician most favored by the Americans, other conservative leaders fell in behind him. When the first US–Soviet Cooperation Committee meeting was concluded without a result, he began to argue in June 1946 that

30621-439: Was the case with Rhee, as very few Americans were fluent in Korean in the 1940s or knew much about Korea, and it was simply far easier for the American occupation government to deal with Rhee than to try to understand Korea. Rhee was "acerbic, prickly, uncompromising" and was regarded by the US State Department, which long had dealings with him as "a dangerous mischief-maker", but the American General John R. Hodge decided that Rhee

30798-440: 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

30975-484: Was upset about MacArthur's dismissal as UNC commander by President Truman—lashed out in a press interview against Britain, whom he blamed for MacArthur's sacking. Rhee declared, "The British troops have outlived their welcome in my country." Shortly after, Rhee told an Australian diplomat about the Australian troops fighting for his country, "They are not wanted here any longer. Tell that to your government. The Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and British troops all represent

31152-431: Was well equipped with Soviet aircraft, vehicles and tanks. According to John Merrill, "the war was preceded by a major insurgency in the South and serious clashes along the thirty-eighth parallel," and 100,000 people died in "political disturbances, guerrilla warfare, and border clashes". At the outbreak of war on 25 June 1950, North Korean troops launched a full-scale invasion of South Korea. All South Korean resistance at

31329-400: Was working as an interpreter. In October 1934, they were married in New York City. She also acted as his secretary. Over the years after the death of Bong-su, Rhee adopted three sons. The first was Rhee Un-soo, however, the elder Rhee ended the adoption in 1949. The second adopted son was Lee Kang-seok, eldest son of Lee Ki-poong, who was a descendant of Prince Hyoryeong and therefore

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