Yi Ku

Yi Ku
Hangul	이구
Hanja	李玖
Revised Romanization	I Gu
McCune–Reischauer	I Ku
Imperial title
Hangul	황세손
Hanja	皇世孫
Revised Romanization	Hwangseson
McCune–Reischauer	Hwangseson
Posthumous title
Hangul	회은황세손
Hanja	懷隱皇世孫
Revised Romanization	Hoeeun Hwangseson
McCune–Reischauer	Hoeŭn Hwangseson
	^ Meaning "Prince Imperial" ; ^ Meaning "Prince Imperial Hoeun" ;

Yi Ku
Yi Ku
	Yi as a child
Head of the House of Yi
Period	May 1, 1970 – July 16, 2005
Predecessor	Crown Prince Yi Un
Successor	Yi Won or Yi Seok ; (disputed)
Born	December 29, 1931; Kitashirakawa Palace (now former Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka), Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Empire of Japan
Died	July 16, 2005 (aged 73); Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka, Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan
Spouse	Julia Mullock; (m. 1959; div. 1982)
Issue	Eugenia Unsuk (adopted)
House	Yi
Father	Crown Prince Yi Un of Korea
Mother	Princess Masako of Nashimoto of Japan
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Occupation	Architect, businessperson

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^[1] 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.^[2]^[3] 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),^[4] for the last time, and Yi Ku formerly signed to adopt Yi Won as his heir.^[5]^[6] 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.^[7]

References

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

External links

Royal titles
Yi Ku House of Yi Born: 29 December 1931 Died: 16 July 2005
Vacant Title last held by Yi Un	Crown prince of King Yi 29 December 1931 – 3 May 1947	Title abolished
Cultural offices
Vacant Title last held by Yi Un	Director of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association 20 March 1973 – 16 July 2005	Vacant Title next held by Yi Won
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Crown Prince Uimin	— TITULAR — Emperor of Korea 1 May 1970 – 16 July 2005 Reason for succession failure: Empire abolished in 1910	Succeeded by Yi Won
		Succeeded by Yi Seok
		Succeeded by Yi Hae-won

[1] Meaning "Prince Imperial"

[2] Meaning "Prince Imperial Hoeun"

[3] "Olde Centre 1952 · Centre College Digital Archives". centre.omeka.net. Retrieved October 1, 2023.

[4] 민동용 (July 25, 2005). "故이구씨 24일 영결식…남양주 영친왕 묘역에 안장". Retrieved August 4, 2020.

[5] 조선 '마지막 황세손' 이구, 한국말 서툴렀던 이유는?. December 6, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2020.

[6] [동정] 이환의 전주이씨 대동종약원 이사장. November 27, 1999. Retrieved June 7, 2020.

[7] Sin, Hyeon-jun (July 21, 2005). 끊어진 조선황실 후계 40대 회사원이 잇는다. Retrieved June 7, 2020.

[8] "一位平凡上班族將續朝鮮皇室嫡統". September 23, 2006.

[9] 황실 후손 생활 담은 다큐 만들고파. The Chosun Ilbo. August 18, 2005. Retrieved June 7, 2020.

[10] Those who were listed were not reigning monarchs but posthumously recognized; the year following means the year of recognition.

[11] 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.

[12] The title given to the biological father, who never reigned, of the kings who were adopted as the heir to a precedent king.

[13] 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.

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