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| World War I Draft Registration Card written by the late Korea's first president Rhee Syngman. |
By Ko Dong-hwan
Korea's first president Rhee Syngman recorded his nationality as Japanese, Hankook Ilbo's New York office reports.
On a World War I Draft Registration Card Rhee allegedly wrote in 1918, the word "Japan" is clearly visible under the "nationality" section.
The card was one of 60 U.S. government documents containing the same English name (Syagman Rhee) and year of birth (1875) as the late president.
The U.S. National Archives and Internet archive website "Ancestry.com." found the card.
The discovery drew mixed opinions from experts. Although they knew Korea was under Japanese occupation in 1918 and thus had no sovereignty, they were shocked that Rhee, a patriotic freedom activist living in Hawaii, recorded his nationality as Japanese.
The card also contained Rhee's other personal information, including age (44), date of birth on the lunar calendar (March 26), occupation (Korean school principal), residential address in Hawaii, his closest relative (Shim Rhee, sister), and race (Oriental).
The U.S. government had made it mandatory for all men aged 18-45 living in the U.S. to register, so the government could estimate how many men could fight in World War I.
American citizens and expats had to register – a total of 24 million men.
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