Lee Chul-seung (or Yi Cheol-seung, Lee Chul-sung or Lee Chul Sung) (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 이철승,

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

:李哲承; May 15, 1922 – February 27, 2016) was a South Korean 7-term National Assemblyman (lawmaker, conservative) and a founding father of the Republic of Korea after the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

(1950–1953). A political heavyweight, Lee was an independence and democracy fighter and leader; anti-

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

; anti-military rule; anti-Japanese rule; an advocate of bipartisanship particularly when it came to national security; and an advocate of

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

. After Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, Lee "led a student union that opposed a trusteeship, under which Korea would be governed by foreign powers after World War II, and entered politics in 1954 after winning a parliamentary seat." Lee and his two political rivals former President

Kim Young-sam Kim Young-sam (; or ; 20 December 1927 – 22 November 2015) was a Demographics of South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the seventh president of South Korea from 1993 to 1998. From 1961, he spent almost 30 year ...

and former President

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

were famous for their political competition and the establishment and development of democracy in South Korea. He was given an honorable burial for his life contributions at the

Seoul National Cemetery The Seoul National Cemetery () is located in Dongjak-dong, Dongjak-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The cemetery is reserved for Korean veterans, including those who died in the Korean independence movement, Korean War, and Vietnam War. Four South Kore ...

on March 2, 2016 where former South Korean presidents are also buried.

Early life and education

* 1949 – B.A. in Political Science, Korea University * 1962 – Studied at the Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania in International Relations * 1995 – Honorary Doctor in Literature from Woosuk University * 1998 – Honorary Doctor in Political Science from Korea University

Political Career

Independence Activist

1946 * Chairman, Central Committee, Anti-Trustee Students Assembly * Chairman, Central Committee, National Students Assembly

National Assembly

1954 * Member, The 3rd National Assembly(Jeonju, Independent) 1958~1961 * Member, The 4th National Assembly(Jeonju, Democratic Party) * The 5th National Assembly(Jeonju, Democratic Party) 1961 * Korean Delegate to the 15th U.N. General Assembly * Chairman, Korea Sports Council * President, Korea Weightlifting Federation 1966 * Chairman, Asia Weightlifting Federation 1969 * Chairman, Asia Weightlifting Federation 1971~1973 * Member, The 8th National Assembly(Jeonju, New Democratic Party) * Chairman, Korean Policy Research Institute 1973 * Member, The 9th National Assembly(Jeonju, New Democratic Party) * Vice Speaker of the National Assembly 1975 * Korean Delegate to the 30th U.N. General Assembly 1976 * Representative Supreme Member, New Democratic Party 1978 * Member, The 10th National Assembly(Jeonju, Wanju, New Democratic Party) 1984~ * President, Council for Commemorative Projects for Korea's Anti-trusteeship & Anti-communism Student's Movement 1985 * Member, The 12th National Assembly(Jeonju, New Democratic Party) 1987 * 자유민주총연맹 총재

Political Exile

On May 16, 1961,

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

Kim Jong-pil Kim Jong-pil (; ; January 7, 1926 – June 23, 2018), also known colloquially as JP, was a South Korean politician and the founder/first director of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA, now the National Intelligence Service). He s ...

, and Lee Nak-sun successfully staged a military coup d'etat. Immediately after,

sent aides to try and win over key opposition lawmakers including Lee who rejected Park's request for help. Lee was forced to leave politics and went to the United States where he was vocally opposed to the military coup in Korea and studied Political Science at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. (''This article needs more details about his political exile, his "man without a passport" status, and his asylum in the U.S.'')

Political Comeback

(''This article needs more details about his political comeback'')

Post-Political Career and Civil Society Leadership

1990 * Director, The Seoul Peace Prize * Member, The Seoul Peace Prize Selection Committee 1993 * Director, Commemorative Committee for "Patriotic Martyr in Yeosoon" 1994~ * Co-chairman, National Council for Freedom and Democracy 1995~ * Advisor, Korea Eligible Senior Voters Federation 1996~ * Chairman, Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation and President, the Seoul Peace Prize Selection Committee * Member, Organizing Committee for the 2002 World Cup * Chairman, Association of Patriotic Societies for National Foundation 1998 * Chairman, Preparatory Committee for Commemorative of the Founding of the Republic of Korea 2005 * 자유민주비상국민회의 대표의장 2007 * Chairman, Parliamentarians' Society of the Republic of Korea 2011~2016 * Chairman, The Elders Group of the Parliamentarians' Society of the Republic of Korea

Death

Lee died on February 27, 2016 at 03:45 KST, at Samsung Hospital in Seoul at the age of 94. A funeral was held for him on March 2, 2016 that began with a five-day wake and a police-escorted procession that led to the National Assembly and ended with a gun salute at the

where he is buried along with former South Korean presidents.

Awards

* Order of Service Merit ("Mugunghwa Medal,"

: 국민훈장무궁화장)

Publications

* The Republic of Korea and I (대한민국과 나) (2011) * Oh! Who Will Look After Korea (

: 오! 대한민국 누가 지키리) (2002) * A Challenge for Hopelessness (

: 절망에의 도전) * Long March to Democracy (

: 민주의 장정) * Pan-National Student Federation (

: 전국학련) * The Middle-of-the-Road Integration Theory (

: 중도통합론) (1992) * The Sound Argument of Chaotic Period * A History of Korean Students National-Building Movement * How the Republic of Korea was Founded (1998) * My Political Thoughts for Democratic Development

References

External links

Lee Chul-seung: National Assembly of South Korea

이철승 "민족지도자를 친일파로…"
동아일보 2005년 1월 26일자 기사
'건국60돌-헌정60돌' 이철승 헌정회장 인터뷰
동아일보 2008년 04월 02일자
이철승 전 신민당 대표 회고록 출판기념회
중앙일보 2011년 05월 24일자

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yi, Cheol-seung 1922 births 2016 deaths Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korea Korean independence activists South Korean anti-communists South Korean democracy activists Korean revolutionaries South Korean Methodists South Korean civil rights activists South Korean journalists Korean religious leaders Democratic Party (South Korea, 1955) politicians People from North Jeolla Province Ramon Magsaysay Award winners Members of the National Assembly (South Korea)