278. Editorial Note
On June 29 and 30, the Liberal Party held its ninth national convention in Seoul. The convention was the first held since 1957 and was attended by over 1,000 delegates. On June 29 the delegates nominated President Rhee for a fourth term and decided to leave to the Chief Executive the choice of a running mate. Rhee selected Assembly Speaker Yi Ki-pung as the party’s Vice Presidential candidate and the convention confirmed his choice. In despatch 51 from Seoul, August 3, the Embassy analyzed what was seen as the “surprising” decision to hold the Liberal Party convention almost a year in advance of the scheduled elections: “The prime reasons for this action are thought to be an LP attempt to head off intraparty rivalry over the Vice Presidential nomination and to generate increased dissension with the opposition Democratic Party, by forcing it to nominate its own candidates before it would have wanted to do so.” (Department of State, Central Files, 795B.00/8–359) See Supplement.