1956 South Korean presidential election

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

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

Election posters for Rhee's Liberal party

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". Cho exceeded expectations by receiving over 30% of the vote. Three years later, Cho was accused of violating the National Security Law and executed.

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Syngman Rhee	Liberal Party	5,046,437	69.99
	Cho Bong-am	Independent	2,163,808	30.01
Total			7,210,245	100.00
Valid votes			7,210,245	79.52
Invalid/blank votes			1,856,818	20.48
Total votes			9,067,063	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			9,606,870	94.38
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

Vice president

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Chang Myon	Democratic Party	4,012,654	46.43
	Lee Ki-poong	Liberal Party	3,805,502	44.03
	Lee Beom-seok	Independent	317,579	3.67
	Yun Chi-young	Korea Nationalist Party	241,278	2.79
	Paeg Song-uk	Independent	230,555	2.67
	Yi Yun-yong	Choseon Democratic Party	34,926	0.40
Total			8,642,494	100.00
Valid votes			8,642,494	95.35
Invalid/blank votes			421,700	4.65
Total votes			9,064,194	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			9,606,870	94.35

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