Word: rhees
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...trapped between an enemy who was willing to settle and a principal ally who saw the settlement as ruinous. At Panmunjom, the Communists were presumably all set to sign an armistice. But in Seoul, stubborn old Syngman Rhee postponed a cease-fire indefinitely by setting free 27,000 North Korean war prisoners that the U.N. had promised to turn over to a neutral commission (see below). By his act, Syngman Rhee all but solved the problem of forced repatriation so far as North Koreans were concerned. He certainly proved that they did not want to go back. But he also...
...releasing the prisoners, Rhee violated the agreement that placed his troops under the U.N. Command in 1950. He also broke repeated promises to General Mark Clark and U.S. Ambassador Ellis Briggs that he would take no "unilateral action with reference to ROK forces . . . until after full and frank discussion" with Clark. Said an angry U.S. soldier: "We came over here to help him, and now he's kicked us in the face." Said Mark Clark: a "precipitous and shocking action...
...desperately attempting to block an armistice, Syngman Rhee had just about used up all the arguments he knew. Last week South Korea's stubborn old man used an uglier and more dangerous tool...
Nevertheless, Rhee seemed to realize that the anti-Americanism might get out of hand. At week's end he called off the mob. One directive, sent out by his Education Ministry, revealed how closely the government controlled the riots. It read: ". . . Students will not demonstrate against the cease-fire until and unless there are further instructions from the ministry." The violence ceased, but the government hinted it might start again. Meanwhile, the tension and suspicion remained...
...Being Foolish." U.N. military and diplomatic observers, many of whom had sympathized with the old man's stand, were angered by his conduct last week. U.S. officials were also angered when Rhee insinuated that President Eisenhower's promise of a post-armistice mutual-security pact was worthless. Even Rhee's own generals were reportedly telling him that it would be impossible for Korea to go it alone. And there were increasing signs that the ROK army would remain loyal to the U.N. Command in a showdown. Said one ROK army officer last week: "Of course...