건국초기 국난을 극복한 대통령 이승만에 대한 재평가

Abstract

It can be stated that there are extremely contrasting differences in the evaluations on the Former President Rhee Syngman. Considering that the good and bad points, errors and achievements co-exist in the life of a man, whoever the man is, the life of Mr. Rhee Syngman must be viewed from a balanced and fair viewpoint reflecting both sides of merits and errors, without exception. This research paper is going to make a review of the Former President Rhee Syngman, limiting the negative evaluation on him as the following five: ① Upheaval of Constitutional Amendment (Abolishment of the limited consecutive terms of the first president), ② Failure to liquidate pro-Japanese group, ③ The crackdown on the progressive political party, ④ Illegal Election on March 15 and the replacement of Mr. Rhee Syngman ⑤ The incidents of the explosion of the Han River, the National Defense Troops, Massacre of Citizens. Such events deserve toe be criticized in moral and normal terms, because they are the cases where Mr, Rhee Syngman had the plot of extending his term of presidency and loosened the fundamental essence of democracy. Regarding the achievements made by the Former President Rhee Syngman, in contrast, this research paper is going to consider in the following four aspects, ① Establishing the basic foundation of Liberal Democracy of ROK, ② Releasing Anti-Communist POW(Prisoners of War) and Making the ROK-US Mutual Defense Agreements, ③ Rooting out illiteracy and perceiving the importance of education, ④ Reforming farmland. Above all, Mr. Rhee Syngman laid the foundation on democracy, compared with foreign leaders founding their countries, and stopped the invasion of communists and protected the nation through the ROK-US Mutual Defense Agreements. Such achievements must be deserve to be appreciated highly.