1956 South Korean presidential election

Presidential and vice-presidential elections were held in South Korea on 15 May 1956.[1] The result was a victory for Syngman Rhee, who won 70.0% of the vote. Voter turnout was 94.4%.[2]

Election posters for Rhee's Liberal party

1956 South Korean presidential election
15 May 1956
Presidential election
 
Candidate Syngman Rhee Cho Bong-am
Party Liberal Independent
Popular vote 5,046,437 2,163,808
Percentage 69.99% 30.01%
President before election

Syngman Rhee
Liberal

 Elected President

Syngman Rhee
Liberal

Vice-Presidential election
 
Candidate Chang Myon Lee Ki Poong
Party Democratic Liberal
Popular vote 4,012,654 3,805,502
Percentage 46.43% 44.03%
Vice-President before election

Ham Tae-young
Independent

 Elected Vice-President

Chang Myon
Democratic

Rhee, who at that time held a virtual monopoly on political power, was opposed by Shin Ik-hee and Cho Bong-am. Shin died before the election by disease, and Cho campaigned on a platform of peaceful reunification in opposition to Rhee's policy of "March North and unify Korea".[3] Cho exceeded expectations by receiving over 30% of the vote. Three years later, Cho was accused of violating the National Security Law and executed.[4]

Results

President
CandidatePartyVotes%
Syngman RheeLiberal Party5,046,43769.99
Cho Bong-amIndependent2,163,80830.01
Total7,210,245100.00
Valid votes7,210,24579.52
Invalid/blank votes1,856,81820.48
Total votes9,067,063100.00
Registered voters/turnout9,606,87094.38
Source: Nohlen et al.

By region
Region Syngman Rhee Cho Bong-am
Votes % Votes %
Seoul 205,253 63.3 25,631 36.7
Gyeonggi 607,757 77.1 44,967 22.9
Gangwon 644,693 90.8 10,516 9.2
North Chungcheong 353,201 86.1 25,875 13.9
South Chungcheong 530,531 77.1 56,590 22.9
North Jeolla 424,674 60.2 109,490 39.8
South Jeolla 741,623 72.1 99,885 27.9
North Gyeongsang 621,530 55.3 129,791 44.7
South Gyeongsang 830,492 62.3 288,654 37.7
Jeju 86,683 87.9 6,105 12.1
Total 5,046,437 70.0 797,504 30.0
Source: National Election Commission[5]

Vice-President
CandidatePartyVotes%
Chang MyonDemocratic Party4,012,65446.43
Lee Ki-poongLiberal Party3,805,50244.03
Lee Beom-seokIndependent317,5793.67
Yun Chi-youngKorea Nationalist Party241,2782.79
Paeg Song-ukIndependent230,5552.67
Yi Yun-yongChoseon Democratic Party34,9260.40
Total8,642,494100.00
Valid votes8,642,49495.35
Invalid/blank votes421,7004.65
Total votes9,064,194100.00
Registered voters/turnout9,606,87094.35

By region
Region Chang Myon Lee Ki-poong Lee Beom-seok Yun Chi-young Paeg Song-uk Yi Yun-yong
Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes %
Seoul 451,037 76.9 95,454 16.3 21,530 3.7 12,445 2.1 3,802 0.6 2,285 0.4
Gyeonggi 450,140 44.9 424,104 42.3 55,621 5.5 40,720 4.1 25,216 2.5 6,768 0.7
Gangwon 103,493 13.6 611,704 80.2 23,612 3.1 14,046 1.8 7,052 0.9 3,225 0.4
North Chungcheong 159,310 33.7 245,218 51.8 28,264 6.0 14,411 3.0 24,727 5.2 1,347 0.3
South Chungcheong 374,209 43.7 364,750 42.6 51,589 6.0 29,054 3.4 31,895 3.7 4,675 0.5
North Jeolla 428,410 51.0 338,283 40.3 28,954 3.4 25,430 3.0 15,596 1.9 2,738 0.3
South Jeolla 529,341 43.7 549,279 45.3 33,890 2.8 25,979 2.1 70,628 5.8 3,294 0.3
North Gyeongsang 715,342 54.4 475,754 36.1 41,037 3.1 38,188 2.9 40,544 3.1 5,303 0.4
South Gyeongsang 778,903 52.5 623,409 42.0 30,264 2.0 38,288 2.6 7,899 0.5 4,575 0.3
Jeju 22,469 19.9 77,547 68.6 7,818 6.9 2,717 2.4 2,196 1.9 216 0.2
Total 4,012,654 46.4 3,805,502 44.0 317,579 3.7 241,278 2.8 230,555 2.7 34,926 0.4

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p420 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
  2. Nohlen et al., p464
  3. Kim, H-A (2004). Korea's development under Park Chung Hee. RoutledgeCurzon, pp. 42–43.
  4. Kim, p. 42.
  5. "개표현황". National Election Commission. Archived from the original on 2017-07-10. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
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