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Shin Ik-hui

Shin became nominated as a presidential candidate in the 1956 election but died of stroke during campaign.

Biography

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SHIN IK-HUI (1892-1956). Born in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, Shin became a champion of Korean freedom while studying at Waseda University in Japan. After graduating from Waseda in 1913, he returned to Korea and taught first at secondary school, and then at Bosung College for Commerce and Law. In 1918, Shin became involved in the independence movement. In the spring of 1919, he fled to Shanghai where he participated in the establishment of the Korean Provisional Government in exile there, becoming vice-chairman of its legislative council in 1922. He served in various positions in the Provisional Government until he returned to Korea in 1945.

On his return, Shin founded Kookmin University in Seoul and served as a member of the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly in 1947 when he and Ji Cheong-cheon of the Daedong' Youth Corps united their organizations into the Korean Nationalist Party. He was elected to the Constituent Assembly in May 1948, serving as its vice-chairman first, and then chairman, replacing Dr. Syngman Rhee who was elected president of the Republic. In 1949, Shin's party and the Korean (Hanguk) Democratic Party merged into the Democratic Nationalist Party. Elected to the National Assembly in 1950, Shin expanded his party into the Democratic Party
in 1955, becoming its president. Although nominated by his party as a presidential candidate in the 1956 presidential election, he died of a stroke during his heated campaign.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. (Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Korea, by Andrew C. Nahm and James E. Hoare, published by RLPG Books, appears by permission of the author and publisher).

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