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Yi Ku

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Korean prince (1931–2005) Not to be confused with Gu Yi.
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In this Korean name, the family name is Yi.The baptismal name is Francis .
Yi Ku
Yi as a child
Head of the House of Yi
PeriodMay 1, 1970 – July 16, 2005
PredecessorCrown Prince Yi Un
SuccessorYi Won or Yi Seok
(disputed)
Born(1931-12-29)December 29, 1931
Kitashirakawa Palace (now former Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka), Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Empire of Japan
DiedJuly 16, 2005(2005-07-16) (aged 73)
Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka, Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan
Spouse Julia Mullock
​ ​(m. 1959; div. 1982)​
IssueEugenia Unsuk (adopted)
HouseYi
FatherCrown Prince Yi Un of Korea
MotherPrincess Masako of Nashimoto of Japan
ReligionRoman Catholicism
OccupationArchitect, businessperson
Yi Ku
Hangul이구
Hanja李玖
Revised RomanizationI Gu
McCune–ReischauerI Ku
Imperial title
Hangul황세손
Hanja皇世孫
Revised RomanizationHwangseson
McCune–ReischauerHwangseson
Posthumous title
Hangul회은황세손
Hanja懷隱皇世孫
Revised RomanizationHoeeun Hwangseson
McCune–ReischauerHoeŭn Hwangseson
  1. Meaning "Prince Imperial"
  2. Meaning "Prince Imperial Hoeun"

Yi Ku (Korean: 이구; December 29, 1931 – July 16, 2005) was a Korean prince who was head of the House of Yi from 1970 until 2005. He was a grandson of Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. Through Kuni Asahiko his maternal great-grandfather, Ku was a second-cousin to Emperor Emeritus Akihito of Japan.

Early life

Ku was born in Kitashirakawa Palace (which is currently the Akasaka Prince Classic House, formerly part of the Akasaka Prince Hotel), Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan; his parents were Crown Prince Yi Un of Korea and Yi Bangja. Ku attended the Gakushuin Peers' School in Tokyo. He later attended Centre College, Danville, Kentucky and studied architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology both in the U.S.

Adult life

He was employed as an architect with I.M. Pei & Assocs, Manhattan, New York from 1959 to 1964. Made stateless by Japan in 1947, Ku acquired United States citizenship in 1959 and South Korean citizenship in 1964. He married Julia Mullock (1927–2017) on 25 October 1959 at St George's Church in New York and they adopted a daughter, Eugenia Unsuk.

After the fall of Syngman Rhee, he returned to Korea in 1963 with the help of the new president Park Chung Hee, moving into the New Building of Nakseonjae hall, Changdeokgung with his mother and wife. He lectured on architecture at Seoul National University and Yonsei University and also managed his own airline, Shinhan. When that went bankrupt in 1979, he went to Japan to earn money. In 1982, his family forced him to divorce his wife because she was sterile; his mother died in 1989. He started living with a Japanese astrologer, Kinuko Arita. In November 1996, he decided to reside permanently in Korea.

Death

Yi went back and forth between Japan and Korea, and eventually died of a heart attack, at the age of seventy-five, on July 16, 2005, at the Akasaka Prince Hotel, the former residence of his parents in Tokyo, Japan. His funeral was held on July 24, 2005, and his posthumous title decided as "Prince Imperial Hoeun" (Korean: 회은황세손; Hanja: 懷隱皇世孫) by the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association. He is buried at the Hoeinwon Royal Tomb near his father and mother.

Yi Ku did not have an heir. According to the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association, Yi Won, Yi Ku's first cousin once removed, was appointed as the heir by him. Yi Ku already considered adopting an heir for the imperial line of succession and Yi Won was considered; after meeting Yi Won several times, he was satisfied about the foreign language abilities of his cousin and allowed Won to be his successor. As of July 10, 2005, less than a week before his death, Yi Ku met the chairman of the association, Lee Hwan-ey (이환의; 李桓儀), for the last time, and Yi Ku formerly signed to adopt Yi Won as his heir. Despite that Yi Ku died soon afterwards, the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association held a meeting for the adoption legitimacy in July 21, and in the next day, July 22, 2005, Yi Won was officially recognized by the association to be the successor of late Yi Ku.

References

  1. "Olde Centre 1952 · Centre College Digital Archives". centre.omeka.net. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  2. 민동용 (July 25, 2005). "故이구씨 24일 영결식…남양주 영친왕 묘역에 안장". Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  3. 조선 '마지막 황세손' 이구, 한국말 서툴렀던 이유는?. December 6, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  4. [동정] 이환의 전주이씨 대동종약원 이사장. November 27, 1999. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  5. Sin, Hyeon-jun (July 21, 2005). 끊어진 조선황실 후계 40대 회사원이 잇는다. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  6. "一位平凡上班族將續朝鮮皇室嫡統". September 23, 2006.
  7. 황실 후손 생활 담은 다큐 만들고파. The Chosun Ilbo. August 18, 2005. Retrieved June 7, 2020.

External links

Yi Ku House of YiBorn: 29 December 1931 Died: 16 July 2005
Royal titles
VacantTitle last held byYi Un Crown prince of King Yi
29 December 1931 – 3 May 1947 		Title abolished
Cultural offices
VacantTitle last held byYi Un Director of the Jeonju Lee
Royal Family Association
20 March 1973 – 16 July 2005 		VacantTitle next held byYi Won
Titles in pretence
Preceded byCrown Prince Uimin — TITULAR —
Emperor of Korea
1 May 1970 – 16 July 2005
Reason for succession failure:
Empire abolished in 1910 		Succeeded byYi Won
Succeeded byYi Seok
Succeeded byYi Hae-won
Flag of the Joseon king House of Yi National seal of Joseon
Gyeongbokgung, the main palace of Joseon
Posthumous
King of Joseon
(1392–1897)
Emperor of Korea
(1897–1910)
Crown Prince
Daewongun
Rival king
King Yi
(1910–1947)
King Emeritus
(Deoksugung)
King
(Changdeokgung)
Crown Prince
Director of the
Royal Family Association
(1957–)
In office
Posthumous
recognition
Pretenders
  • denotes that the king was deposed and never received a temple name.
  1. Those who were listed were not reigning monarchs but posthumously recognized; the year following means the year of recognition.
  2. Only the crown princes that didn't become the king were listed; the former year indicates when one officially became the heir and the latter one is that when one died/deposed. Those who ascended to the throne were excluded in the list for simplification.
  3. The title given to the biological father, who never reigned, of the kings who were adopted as the heir to a precedent king.
  4. The de jure monarch of Korea during the era was the Emperor of Japan, while the former Korean emperors were given nobility title "King Yi" instead.
Kings Yi & Dukes Yi of Korea (李王・李公, 1910–1947)
King Emeritus Yi of
Deoksu Palace
King Yi of
Changdeok Palace
Queen consort Yi
of Changdeok Palace
Queen dowager of Yi
Crown Princess of Yi
Crown Prince of Yi
Dukes of Yi
Duke Yi Hui
Duchess consort
Duke Yi Kang
Duchess consort
See also House of Yi
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