You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Korean. (December 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Korean Wikipedia article at [[:ko:의민태자]]; see its history for attribution.
You should also add the template {{Translated|ko|의민태자}} to the talk page.
On 10 June 1926, upon the death of Emperor Sunjong, Yi Un received the late emperor's title, and became the King Yi of Changdeokgung (昌徳宮李王), which referred to the palace Changdeokgung. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant General in the Imperial Japanese Army, commanded Japanese forces in China and served as a member of the Supreme War Council. After World War II he was refused entry to Korea, and his Japanese titles were removed by article 14 of the new Constitution of Japan in 1947. After his death in 1970, Yi Un is alternatively known as Crown Prince Uimin (의민태자), a posthumous name given by the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association.
Early life
The prince was born on 20 October 1897 at Deoksu Palace in Seoul as the seventh son of Gojong, the Gwangmu Emperor. His mother was the Honorable Princess Consort Eom Seon-yeong, a palace attendant, who was posthumously awarded the title of Princess Sunheon. He was also the younger half-brother of Emperor Sunjong and Prince Imperial Ui. He was titled Prince Imperial Yeong in 1900, and became the crown prince in 1907, despite being younger than Prince Ui. Prince Ui's support base at court was not strong because his own mother, Lady Jang, had already died.
In December 1907, he was taken to Japan on the initiative of Itō Hirobumi to be enrolled at Gakushūin Peers' School. The move was meant to ensure that the Korean royal family would not take any further anti-Japanese actions following The Hague Secret Emissary Affair.[1] Japanese Emperor Meiji, who largely ignored his own grandchildren, devoted a lot of attention to Yi Un, acting as his guardian.[1] Itō would bring Yi Un whenever he was visiting the princes Hirohito, Chichibu and Takamatsu.[1] Meiji apparently stopped seeing Yi Un so frequently after Ito's assassination.[2] Yi Un was allowed to visit Korea again only after the death of his mother in 1911.[1]
Military career
In September 1911, the prince was enrolled in the second year of the Army Central Youth School, a military preparation school located in Tokyo. He was poor in gymnastics due to his small stature, but excelled in music and martial arts. He was then enrolled in the 29th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, from which he graduated on 25 May 1917 with an excellent record.
He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry on 25 December, and steadily rose up the ranks, receiving promotions to lieutenant (April 1920), and captain (July 1923). He graduated from the 35th class of the Army Staff College in November 1923 and commanded a battalion of the Guards 2nd Infantry Regiment. He was assigned to the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office in December 1924, and to the staff of the Chosen Army in July 1926. In 1926, he visited Korea in order to visit Sunjong of Korea with his wife.[3] In May 1927, he was sent on an extensive European tour, visiting France, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Monaco, and returning to Japan in April 1928. In August, he was promoted to major and in August 1929 became commander of the IJA 1st Infantry Regiment. In December 1930, he was assigned to the Inspectorate General of Military Training and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in August 1932. He became colonel in August 1935 and commanded the Utsunomiya-based IJA 59th Infantry Regiment. From April 1937, he served as an instructor at the Army Academy.
In July 1938, the prince was promoted to major general and from December was assigned to the staff of the North China Area Army, which was engaged in combat operations in northern China following the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Throughout the first half of 1939, he made extensive inspection tours of front-line units throughout northern Japan, and reviewed Kwantung Army garrison units in Manchukuo. In August, he was appointed commander of the Guards 2nd Brigade and in May 1940 was commander of the reserve Fourth Depot Division. He was promoted to lieutenant general in December. In July 1941, he was appointed commander of the IJA 51st Division also based in Utsunomiya.
Following the surrender of Japan, Yi Un lost his royal status under the American Occupation of Japan in 1947. He was also declared stateless, as Korea had become independent of the Empire of Japan, but Korean PresidentSyngman Rhee had refused his request to be allowed to return to Korea with his family. In May 1947, following the end of the American occupation, he acquired Japanese citizenship and travelled to the United States the same month. In March 1959, while still in the United States, he suffered from a stroke. He returned to Japan in May. In 1960, President Rhee again denied him permission to return to Korea, but instead offered the prince the position of Korean Ambassador to the Court of St. James's. He refused on the grounds of illness, but made a trip to New York from June to August 1960, and to Hawaii from March to May 1961. His health deteriorating rapidly, he was hospitalized in Tokyo from August 1961.
In November 1963, President Park Chung Hee granted permission for Prince Yi Eun and Crown Princess Bangja to return to Korea. By that time, Prince Yi Eun was unconscious from cerebral thrombosis. He received treatment at St. Mary's Hospital in Seoul.
In his final years, Prince Yi Eun lived at Nakseon Hall, Changdeok Palace, the former residence of the Korean Imperial Family in Seoul, with Bangja and his younger sister Princess Deokhye. Seven years after returning to his country, he died on 1 May 1970 at Nakseon Hall, Changdeok Palace, Seoul. He was buried at Hongreung in Namyangju, near Seoul.
Children
Yi Jin (이진;李晋;I Jin;Yi Chin; born 18 August 1921 – 11 May 1922), the elder son of Prince Eun and his wife, Princess Bangja. Yi Jin died abruptly during his infancy while on a visit to Korea with his parents. This fueled conspiracy theories about the circumstances of his death. His funeral was held on 17 May 1922 and he is buried in Korea.
Yi Gu (이구;李玖;I Gu;Yi Ku; born 29 December 1931 – 16 July 2005), the second son of Prince Eun and his wife, Princess Bangja. Prince Gu became the 29th Head of the Korean Imperial Household upon the death of his father. He married an American citizen Julia Mullock on 25 October 1959 at St George's Church in New York, they had no issue but adopted a daughter, Eugenia Unsuk Lee (Eun-sook) (b. 1959).
Yi Un is known posthumously as Yi Un, Crown Prince Euimin of Korea. Approved by the President Park Chung Hee, Yi Un's spirit tablet was put into Jongmyo shrine on 6 May 1973 according to the royal tradition.[9]
Yi Un's residence Kitashirakawa Palace in Tokyo was originally built in 1930. After World War II, it was converted to Akasaka Prince Hotel, which opened in 1955 (later Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka). After the hotel was demolished in 2013, the building became part of Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho, refurbished as a banquet facility, now known as Akasaka Prince Classic House.
Bille-Hansen, A. C.; Holck, Harald, eds. (1933) [1st pub.:1801]. Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1933[State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1933](PDF). Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender (in Danish). Copenhagen: J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri. p.21. Retrieved 16 September 2019– via da:DIS Danmark.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Yi_Un, and is written by contributors.
Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.