Kim Jeong-min Ph.D., Research Fellow at Rhee Syng-man Presidential Foundation
“Koreans Submit Petition to Washington Conference Despite Japanese Wrath (KOREANS BREAVE WRATH OF JAPANESE TO PRESENT MEMORIAL TO CONFERENCE).”
This English document, typed on paper and marked with “Distribution Date: Monday, January 2, 1922, Morning Newspaper” in the top-left corner, is a **press release**. It is a material distributed to media outlets by an institution seeking press coverage.
Recently unearthed from the archives of Yonsei University’s Rhee Syng-man Research Institute through the Academy of Korean Studies’ “Unpublished Rhee Syng-man Documents Organization, Classification, and DB Project,” this document reveals how Rhee Syng-man conducted diplomatic independence movements during the Washington Conference, held from November 1921 to February 1922.
Under headings like “24 Arrested” and “Several Executed,” the document states: “Washington, December 30: The petition to the Washington Conference, appealing for the resolution of the Korean issue, was announced here tonight. The petition bears the signatures of Koreans representing all classes, from the royal family to labor unions.”
After the end of World War I in 1918, the Asia-Pacific region still required a post-war international order. Britain, France, Japan, Italy, and other powers gathered in Washington, D.C., in 1921 to begin negotiations on naval disarmament and Pacific-Far East issues.
In Washington, delegations from various small nations seeking independence awaited the conference. Among them was the Korean Commission to America, established by Rhee Syng-man in 1919 under the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Rhee Syng-man, who had traveled from Shanghai to Washington, reorganized his forces and accelerated preparations for diplomatic efforts at the conference.
His first priority was forming the **Korean Mission**. Though unofficially invited, the goal was to attend the conference. The Provisional Government granted the Korean Mission full authority over the Washington Conference on September 9, 1921. Rhee Syng-man, President of the Provisional Government, served as the head; Seo Jae-pil, acting chairman of the Korean Commission to America, as deputy head; Jeong Han-gyeong and Fred Dolph as secretary and advisor, respectively. Former Senator Charles Thomas joined as a special advisor.
Led by Rhee Syng-man, the Korean Mission submitted six diplomatic documents to delegations during the conference, while also engaging in public diplomacy to gain U.S. and international support for Korean independence. The document that drew the most media attention was the **Petition of the Korean People to the Pacific Conference (韓國人民治太平洋會議書)**, delivered through figures like Lee Sang-jae and Shin Heung-woo. It included 372 signatures and seals from representatives across Korean society: Prince Uichin Lee (royal representative), Kim Yun-sik and Min Yeong-gyu (nobility representatives), 101 representatives from organizations including the YMCA, and 271 local representatives from counties nationwide.
This content was widely reported by over 30 U.S. media outlets. *The Globe* commented, “It is the most notable document at the Washington Conference.” How was this achieved? Separate from the petition, the Korean Mission — a marginalized delegation of a small nation — distributed press releases to media outlets. The press release boldly stated, “Peace in Asia cannot be sustained without restoring Korea’s status as an independent buffer state.”
