Eehwajang: The Home of President Syngman Rhee

Gate at the Residence of Syngman Rhee

Last Friday my lovely language partner and I went to the home of 이승만, known to the West as "Syngman Rhee," the first President of South Korea. It is now a small museum, known, in Korean, as 이화장. I first was made aware of the existence of this place from Shaun's blog post on the subject. Since Shaun has already given directions to this fascinating museum, I won't do so, and in any case my language partner (who lives sixty seconds from my home), and I went up through Naksan park behind our homes and down to the museum, thus approaching from the opposite direction. My language partner stumbled across the site by accident some weeks ago, so she was my guide. To get there, we had to go down from Naksan Park along a narrow alley:


En route to the house of Syngman Rhee

Before proceding further, you can read the sign, like I did:

Sign at the Gate

As you can see from the sign, this home was the residence of a famous scholar long before it became the residence of the first President of South Korea. To get in, you have to push open the gate yourself, and close it behind you.


President Rhee's House

So this is the surprisingly modest home of the first President of South Korea. Although for a house in Seoul it is quite nicely laid out and spacious, even now, it certainly is not something one would expect a President of a country to live in. When the leaders of many smaller, poor countries live in squalor, President Rhee lived in a modest dwelling of some historical significance, until his move to The Blue House, which remains the Presidential mansion.

The occupant of the house did have some nice things, like a pocket watch, for example, but the lifestyle he lived seemed to have been merely what one might think of as "upper middle class." Now perhaps someone will say, "but South Korea was poor at that time, and couldn't afford much." However, a simple online tour of the country's Chosun dynasty's Gyeongbokgung Palace--or any of the other Chosun dynastic dwellings--quickly rebuts this. I suppose his standard of living went up when he lived in the Blue House, but I'm sure he was no Saddam Hussein.

The artefactual qualities of the site are heightened by the interesting collection of historic black and white photographs:




In the next two pictures, you can see the Presidential study, quite a modest affair. There is on the desk a picture of the late President pecking, with two fingers, at his typewriter.


Dr. Rhee's Study


The Presidential Typewriter

President Rhee lived for some years in the United States, earning an M.A. from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Princeton. He was a reader and author.


Books in the Atrium

Some of the books, pictured above, were authored by Dr. Rhee. In one book, published in 1941, he warned of the coming aggression of the Japanese against the USA. He has a discussion of Hawaii in that context in the book, which I browsed briefly.

The President was also a devout Christian:


"Christian Endeavor Prayer Meeting Topics, 1907"

Dr. Rhee was also a man of culture who liked to write Chinese poems, many of which he wrote while in prison. His personal screen contains (one [or more?]) such poems in his own calligraphy:




In South Korea, personal seals have been a traditional way to affix one's signature to documents. Here are the first President's seals:


Seals


Some Personal Effects

Syngman Rhee lived the life of an exile for a great part of his life. During the Japanese occupation, he lived in Japan-occupied China, from where he continued his activist activities. To avoid being arrested by the Japanese, he wore this disguise of Chinese clothing:




This outfit stands in sharp contrast to the comment of one of my adult student that Rhee supported Japan after Korean independence. In fact, President Rhee was roundly condemned by many of my adult students, and is not popular in his own nation. I regret this, and think this complaint inapppropriate, in light of the man's personal sacrifices caused by his love for his country. He suffered exile and fear and lived daily with these realities--something most of today's Koreans cannot identify with.

The next picture shows part of a beautiful painting given to Rhee by Mrs. Chiang Kai-Shek. Rhee met Chiang Kai Shek twice--once in China (before the Maoist revolution), and once in Taiwan.


Detail of Painting

Syngman Rhee also freed anti-communist prisoners, and was involved in the fight against Communism in Vietnam. An anti-communist Ukrainian group gave him these gavels:


Gavels presented by a Ukrainian democratic movement

As President, he visited Japan twice, the first time as the guest of General MacArthur, the second time at the invitation of the Japanese Prime Minister. I think the President realized the importance of forgiveness and starting anew. Meanwhile, it is clear that South Korea has abandoned the alliances which were so important to Mr. Rhee. While many Koreans consider the United States and Japan to be enemies, the country is cozening up to both North Korea and China while ignoring Taiwan, a country which is resisting, with the aid of the US and Japan, China's moves at aggression on that democratic country. "You've come a long, way, baby." This saddened me, and I wonder why the country has changed.

While I know very little of Korean history, certainly, the administration personnel of the Rhee government is widely viewed as being corrupt. That being said, a few of my adult students felt that the man himself had a good heart, and it was the people around him who were not serving him and the country to the best of their ability.

The complaint has been voiced that when the Japanese took over Korea, many of the Chosun dynasty's aristocracy supported Japan--and these people were allowed to remain in position by President Rhee after independence. The comparison was drawn by one adult student of mine with Germany, which she said purged the Nazis after WWII. However, I think this complaint is invalid. In the first place, the German post-war purge was not complete, and in the second place, Germany had been a developed country for decades. The country could thus afford to replace many civil servants who were Nazis with others who had similar expertise in civil affairs. I don't think South Korea had this luxury, as it was a relatively poor country even under the Chosun dynasty. For a President of a poor country which has made so quick a leap to first world status in quality of living to be so dishonored by his own people is both tragic and fascinating. Today, all that remains of his earlier honors may be these medals:


Medals from South Korea

On the other hand, the widespread condemnation of Rhee must have some basis in reality. Many Koreans feel that he was too pro-US (he once organized a national campaign urging the US to keep its troops on the penninsula). A potential rival died under mysterious circumstances. Perhaps there are other issues of which I am unaware. I wonder if the memory of Rhee is tarnished by today's anti-Americanism, or if today's anti-Americanism is a function of the alleged Rhee government corruption and insufficient purge of pro-Japanese Chosun administrators.

Syngman Rhee married a foreigner, a lady from Austria. Since I hope to marry a Korean woman one day, this alone gives him a special place in my heart. The lady he married was an Austrian, Francesca Donner.

You can see Mrs. Donner's clothes and native language in the next photograph:


Mrs. Donner's clothing in box with German writing

Mrs. Donner, like her husband, was a frugal lady. She had her children conserve their things by not giving them fresh pencils very often.


Stubby Pencils saved by a frugal Mrs. Donner

Mrs. Donner and her husband eventually left the country again, at the sudden end of the long presidency of Dr. Rhee. They settled in a home in Hawaii. I saw a picture of this home in the museum, and was astonished at how small it was. The next picture shows the very ordinary table--similar to ones I've seen in old people's houses--from that house.




Outside the house, there is on the grounds a small building containing a wood-storage room, and two other thinking rooms, both spartan and bare.







The garden at the site is not huge, but it is beautiful and peaceful.




A commemorative statue stands in the garden, which yours truly liked enough to be photographed with.




The subject of the next picture, a small damaged Buddhist statue, was fascinating to me because the President was a devout Christian. Perhaps it is a metaphor for the memory of Syngman Rhee.


Buddhist Statue (shown larger than real size), in the garden

Syngman Rhee's last days were lived in exile in the company of his wife in his tiny house in Hawaii. Judging from this photograph, I think, thanks to her companionship, he enjoyed his days to the end.



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Postscript:
Out of all the places I've been in Korea, including its temples and palaces, this place remains for me the most interesting. It is also special because of the company of my friend. I hope that through this little post the memory of Mr. Syngman will be rehabilitated, at least for some of his countrymen; I must say, however, that this was not the purpose of my visit, as prior to the visit I knew only that Syngman Rhee was the country's first President. Seeing the modest means and the cultured interests and sincerity of this man through the museum made a great impression on me. Finally, I solicit the corrections and comments of anyone more knowledgable than I in the Comments. Also, I signed the guestbook at the museum; if you simply feel like leaving a guestbook type comment here, please feel free to do so. Thank you for visiting, online, Eewhajang. Goodbye.