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Syngman Rhee
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The Republic of Korea was proclaimed on August 15, 1948. Its first president was Syngman Rhee. From the republic's beginning, the main business of the government was the suppression of leftist groups, some of them independent but many supported by North Korea. The general South Korean success in this effort probably led the North Korean government to launch its full-scale military attack in June 1950 (see Korean War). The war totally disrupted South Korean life and politics, and Rhee began to lose the support of the legislature, now sitting in Pusan, the wartime capital. Rhee used troops to force the legislature to provide for the direct election of the president. Later he was elected to a second term (1952). He handily won reelection in 1956 and 1960, but blatant manipulation of the 1960 elections led to a nationwide protest that culminated in Rhee's forced resignation (April 27, 1960).
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