Lee Ki-poong

Lee Ki-poong [also spelled as Yi Ki-bong or Lee Gi-bung]^[2][3] (20 December 1896 – 28 April 1960) was a South Korean politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1954 to 1960 during which he was also serving as Speaker of the assembly,^[4][5] the Minister of National Defense from May 1951 to March 1952 (during which Lee presented a proposal to enhance the capabilities of the South Korean army),^[6] and the Mayor of Seoul from June 1949 to May 1951. On August 10, 1951 as then Defense Minister he condemned the Geochang massacre which was perpetrated by Korean soldiers and vowed severe punishment to those responsible.^[7] Lee was a supporter of President Syngman Rhee and the leader of the Liberal Party, the ruling party of South Korea under Rhee during the First Republic from 1948 to 1960, though as time had passed, Rhee had grown weary of Lee, which led him to dismiss him from the position of Defense Minister on March 29, 1952.^[8]. By the 1956 election (in which he lost the vote for the VP position),^[9] Lee became the most prominent member of the Liberal Party, and was considered one of Rhee's closest right-hand men.^[10]

Lee was elected Vice President of South Korea in the controversial March 1960 presidential election where Rhee was elected to his third term as President of South Korea. Both won by a very wide margin, and the election was widely condemned in South Korea for election rigging amid growing public opposition to Rhee's corrupt and authoritarian rule, but noteworthy is that prior to the student movement Lee was disliked by the public.^[11] As a result, the April Revolution took place in mid-April 1960, which resulted in Rhee resigning on April 26, 1960 and fleeing the country. Lee resigned before taking office as Vice President elect,^[12] but the results of the March election were invalidated and the office itself was later abolished in June.

Seemingly after the whole ordeal Lee had suffered from a case of "creeping paralysis" which was used to explain his inability of assuming the role of Vice President.^[13] On April 28, 1960, in an "heavily guarded"^[14] annex of Rhee's Seoul mansion, Lee and his family (wife named Maria and younger son named Lee Kong Wook) were shot killed by his eldest son, Army 2nd Lieutenant Lee Kang-seok (1937 – April 28, 1960) who had been adopted by Syngman Rhee on 1956,^[15] with a .45 caliber automatic handgun, who then killed himself in a murder–suicide.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]}

• Lee Beom-seok

• 역대서울시장 Former Mayors of Seoul (In Korean)

• Kim, Jin-heum (2021). 이기붕 체제 자유당의 형성과 변화. 사림 (75): 229–259 – via KCI.