Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

4/22/2003
Alumni/ae Profile - Syngman Rhee BD '60

Syngman Rhee – Profile of a Gifted Servant

When Syngman Rhee was growing up in what is now part of North Korea, it had been a country living under occupation. First under Japanese rule until the end of World War II, and then under a repressive communist dictatorship as the country was divided at the 38th parallel into North and South Korea. As a third generation Christian, who was the son of a Presbyterian minister, he understood that to be a follower of Christ comes at a cost. “I was a teenager when Korea was split,” Syngman remembers. “A very repressive regime came to power and in 1950, as the Korean War broke out, my father and other pastors were rounded up and arrested.” Eventually, Syngman’s father was executed. His mother, who was concerned for the safety of Syngman and his younger brother because she felt they would be forced to serve in the military, urged the two brothers to temporarily flee to the south.

“It was at the funeral for my father that I felt the call to ministry,” Syngman remembers. “I was crying out to God, asking why innocent people have to suffer if God is indeed a righteous God. Then I remember this small inner voice saying, ‘Since your father was unable to complete his ministry, you should follow in his footsteps.’ That was the first time I felt called to be a minister.”

Just after the funeral, on December 3, 1950, the 19 year old Syngman and his 17 year old brother bid a tearful farewell to their mother, older brother and four younger sisters for what was hoped would be a short stay in the south until the conflict ended. Syngman can still remember his mother telling him that even though they would be separated they would still see each other in their prayers. He would never see his mother or older brother alive again and it would be nearly thirty years before he was permitted to visit his sisters in North Korea.

As the two brothers, along with thousands of refugees, walked south they had to face unimaginable obstacles. This included not knowing where their next meal would come from or where they would sleep at night. As Syngman recalls, “During that time the most important thing we had was our trust in God. We learned that faith truly matters and that in life and death we belong to God.”

During his time as a refugee, Syngman can remember the help he received from many Christian organizations including Church World Services along with Presbyterian missionaries. “I’ll never forget how much it meant to us to have the love of God extended to us by our Christian friends from the United States. They provided food for the hungry, blankets for the cold, medicine for the sick and most of all, hope for the hopeless. Once you are touched by the love of God you become grateful for having your life spared, but you also want to share that same love of God with others.”

After walking for almost a month, the brothers reached the southern tip of South Korea. With no family, home or work available, Syngman and his brother joined the South Korean Marines where they served on the battlefields of their divided country for five years. While serving in the armed forces, Syngman was given the opportunity to receive special training in the United States where he made friends with several Americans. After his discharge in 1955, one of his American friends became his sponsor and brought him to the United States to study at Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia where he completed his degree. It was while he was a student that Syngman became a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Charleston, West Virginia. Dr. George Vick, pastor of the church and an alumnae of Louisville Seminary, asked Syngman to share his story with the Presbyterian Woman’s gathering in Charleston. After hearing him speak, one of the members, Mrs. John J.D. Preston, asked to meet with Syngman in pastor Vick’s office. She offered to help pay for his college education and seminary training. Dr. Vick asked him to consider LPTS and in the fall of 1957, Syngman became a student at the Seminary.

While studying at LPTS, Syngman soon found a Korean connection in Dr. Kenneth J. Foreman, who had a son who was a missionary in Korea. At the time the seminary was all housed in one building in downtown Louisville and had around one hundred students. Syngman remembers the seminary as being a caring community with remarkable professors and teachers. He has fond memories of Dr. Frank H. Caldwell who was the seminary president, Dr. C. Morton Hanna, Dr. A. B. Rhodes and Dr. Julian P. Love who provided him with a sound foundation for ministry. According to Syngman, “Not only did my professors have an understanding of their subject areas, they also cared about who we were as people and what we were becoming. Guiding our lives in a very personal way. What a time of growth those three wonderful years were.”

After seminary, Syngman married Hae Sun, whom he had known since childhood and who had just completed her medical degree in Korea. During the war, before Syngman came to the Unites States they made a promise to each other that they would marry once they had both finished school. In 1960, just after both had graduated and after being apart for five years, the couple was married in the seminary chapel in the downtown campus with Dr. A. B. Rhodes officiating.

The couple settled in Louisville after graduation and Syngman became pastor of the Presbyterian Church in nearby Bardstown. A year later, he worked in the campus ministry at the University of Louisville, a position he held for ten years. As Syngman remembers, “The 1960s were turbulent times with the civil rights movement and the war in Viet Nam.” During this time, he maintained close ties with the seminary. “I can remember an incident at the seminary when a professor, Dr. George Edwards, spoke out passionately against such organizations as the John Birch Society. Some people in the community were very upset with him and went to the seminary president, Dr. Albert C. Winn to demand his removal or they would withdraw their financial support. I was so impressed that Dr. Winn stood behind Dr. Edwards and refused to fire him. That showed me the strength of this institution and its commitment to peace and justice. The actions of Dr. Winn and Dr. Edwards became a model for my ministry. To live a life of conviction, as a follower of Christ, in spite of the difficulties that face us.”

Convicted that racism was against the teachings of Christ, Syngman became an activist and took part in many civil rights demonstrations and protests in the Louisville area including a mach with Dr. Martin Luther King.

In 1973, Syngman accepted a new call to serve the larger church as Area Coordinator for the Middle East at the World Mission Division of the Office of the General Assembly of the denomination, which at the time was located in New York City. During his seven years at that post, he traveled extensively throughout the Middle East in order to meet missionaries and provide support for their ministries. As Syngman recalls, “Like today, the Middle East was an area of extreme conflict in need of the message of reconciliation. While it was a very difficult time, I was profoundly grateful for the experience.” While serving in the Middle East he witnessed the Yom Kipper War, the Begin-Sadat agreement and the taking of the American hostages in Iran. “I was profoundly influenced by Egypt’s President Sadat and had the privilege of meeting him before his assassination. During that conversation it became clear to me that he was a man who was fully committed to the peace process. As a result of his commitment he was killed by members of his own people. He was well aware that it took that kind of commitment and even sacrifice to achieve peace. To this day there has been peace between Israel and Egypt.”

In 1980, after serving the Middle East for seven years, Syngman became Area Coordinator for the Far East and Pacific. Just prior to his appointment, in 1978, he was able to return to North Korea for the first time in twenty-eight years as part of a delegation from the church. As Syngman remembers, “It was both a joyful and tearful experience. I was able to reconnect with my four younger sisters. However, I also found out that my older brother had died during the Korean War and my mother had died eight years before.”

Syngman’s ministry in the Far East ended in 1988 when he became Associate Director for Global Mission at the denomination’s new headquarters in Louisville. There he was responsible for relations with global partners in 120 partner churches in 80 countries along with working with the eight area coordinators who worked directly with the partner churches. He was also responsible for ecumenical cooperation with the National Council of Churches (NCC), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Worldwide Association of Reformed Churches (WARC). During this time he also served as President of the National council of Churches from 1992 to 1993 and met with Pope Paul, President Bill Clinton and other political and spiritual leaders.

Upon retirement, in 1998, the Rhees’ moved to Richmond, Virginia where Syngman teaches courses in mission and evangelism. Then, in June of 2000, Syngman Rhee was elected Moderator of the 212th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). According to Syngman, “I was privileged to serve the church as moderator and found it to be a very humbling experience. The travel was so extensive that I was only able to spend three or four days a month at home during my year as moderator. But what an exciting experience it was, being asked to speak to over 50 presbyteries and 50 congregations. It was a once in a lifetime experience which I was blessed to receive.” During his time as moderator, Syngman lifted up three themes: the importance of mission in our world, the need for spiritual renewal and nurture, and the importance of reconciliation in a diverse culture.

When asked about what challenges he feels are facing theological seminaries, Syngman says, “The basic task for seminaries has been the same all along. To train the leadership of the church. But the context of society has changed and the church can no longer assume that the students will come to the seminary with the same knowledge of the Gospel as earlier generations. This means that the seminary has to begin to lay the foundation of the understanding of the call to the ministry and ask some very basic convictional and lifestyle questions. What does it mean to dedicate ones life to the ministry in the context of today’s society? How are we to be disciples of Jesus Christ at a time when the church has lost much of its influence in our culture? While these are serious issues facing the church at this time, I believe we are in a time of transition and that there are good times ahead for the church and for those who go into the ministry.”

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