Provenance: the entourage of Yi Ki-bung. Yi Ki-bung Vice president of South Korea in 1960 under the presidency of Syngman Rhee, first president of South Korea. Politics during the Rhee regime (1948-60) essentially revolved around Rhee's struggle to remain in power and the opposition's efforts to unseat him. Constitutional provisions concerning the presidency became the focal point. Because Rhee's four-year term of office was to end in August 1952 under the 1948 constitution, an amendment to elect the president by popular vote had been railroaded through by his supporters. In March 1960, the Liberal Party managed to reelect Rhee and to elect Yi Ki-bung vice president by the blatant use of force. Rhee was reelected by default because his principal opponent had died while receiving medical treatment in the United States just before the election. The circumstances of the election touched off civil disorders, known as the April 19 Student Revolution, during which 142 students were killed by the police. As a result, Rhee resigned on April 26, 1960. The next day all four members of the Yi family died in an apparent suicide pact.