The Spirit of Independence: A Primer for Korean Modernization and ReformThe Spirit of Independence is the foremost classic of reformist political writings known collectively as "enlightenment" (kaehwa) literature of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Korea. The twenty-nine-year-old Syngman Rhee completed the manuscript in 1904 while imprisoned in Seoul for openly criticizing the Taehan Empire and calling for a constitutional monarchy. His work reveals the depth of Korean angst over the threat to Korean independence of the ongoing Russo-Japanese War.
