View source for Yi Ku

{{Short description|Korean prince (1931–2005)}}
{{distinguish|Gu Yi}}
{{family name hatnote|Yi||lang=Korean}}{{baptismal name|Francis}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Yi Ku
| image        = Yi Gu.jpg
| caption      = Yi as a child
| succession   = [[House of Yi|Head of the House of Yi]]
| reign-type   = Period
| reign        = May 1, 1970 – July 16, 2005
| predecessor  = [[Yi Un|Crown Prince Yi Un]]
| successor    = [[Yi Won]] or [[Yi Seok]] or [[Yi Hae-won]] <br/>(disputed)
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1931|12|29}}
| birth_place  = Kitashirakawa Palace (now former [[Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka]]), Kioicho, Kojimachiku, [[Tokyo]], [[Empire of Japan]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|2005|7|16|1931|12|29}}
| death_place  = Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka, Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan
| house        = [[House of Yi|Yi]]
| father       = [[Yi Un|Crown Prince Yi Un of Korea]]
| mother       = [[Yi Bangja|Princess Masako of Nashimoto of Japan]]
| religion     = [[Roman Catholicism]]
| occupation   = Architect, businessperson
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Julia Mullock]]<br/>|1959|1982|reason=div.}}
| issue        = Eugenia Unsuk (adopted)
}}
{{Infobox Korean name
 |title=Yi Ku
 |hangul=이구
 |hanja=李玖
 |rr=I Gu
 |mr=I Ku
 |othername1=Imperial title
 |hangul1=황세손
 |hanja1=皇世孫
 |rr1=Hwangseson
 |mr1=Hwangseson
 |lk1=Prince Imperial
 |othername2=Posthumous title
 |hangul2=회은황세손
 |hanja2=懷隱皇世孫
 |rr2=Hoeeun Hwangseson
 |mr2=Hoeŭn Hwangseson
 |lk2=Prince Imperial Hoeun
 |text={{reflist|group=note}}
}}
'''Yi Ku''' ({{Korean|hangul=이구}}; December 29, 1931{{spaced ndash}} July 16, 2005) was a Korean prince who was head of the [[House of Yi]] from 1970 until 2005. He was a grandson of [[Gojong of Korea|Emperor Gojong]] of the [[Joseon|Joseon dynasty]]. Through [[Prince Kuni Asahiko|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 [[Yi Un|Crown Prince Yi Un of Korea]] and [[Yi Bangja]]. Ku attended the [[Gakushuin|Gakushuin Peers' School]] in Tokyo. He later attended [[Centre College]], [[Danville, Kentucky]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Olde Centre 1952 · Centre College Digital Archives |url=https://centre.omeka.net/items/show/1180 |access-date=2023-10-01 |website=centre.omeka.net}}</ref> and studied architecture at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] both in the [[United States|U.S.]]

==Adult life==
He was employed as an architect with [[I.M. Pei]] & Assocs, [[Manhattan]], [[New York (state)|New York]] from 1959 to 1964. Made [[statelessness|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 [[myocardial infarction|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|hangul=회은황세손|hanja=懷隱皇世孫}}) by the [[Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association]].<ref>{{cite news |author1=민동용 |title=故이구씨 24일 영결식…남양주 영친왕 묘역에 안장 |url=https://www.donga.com/news/article/all/20050725/8212926/1 |access-date=2020-08-04 |date=2005-07-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |script-title=ko:조선 '마지막 황세손' 이구, 한국말 서툴렀던 이유는? |url=https://www.donga.com/news/article/all/20171206/87604653/2 |access-date=2020-07-25 |date=2017-12-06}}</ref> 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 ({{Korean|hangul=이환의|hanja=李桓儀|labels=no}}),<ref>{{cite news |script-title=ko:[동정] 이환의 전주이씨 대동종약원 이사장 |url=https://news.joins.com/article/3845511 |access-date=2020-06-07 |date=1999-11-27}}</ref> for the last time, and Yi Ku formerly signed to adopt Yi Won as his heir.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sin |first1=Hyeon-jun |script-title=ko:끊어진 조선황실 후계 40대 회사원이 잇는다 |url=https://m.chosun.com/svc/article.html?sname=news&contid=2005072170015 |access-date=7 June 2020 |date=21 July 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=一位平凡上班族將續朝鮮皇室嫡統 |date=September 23, 2006 |url=https://bill12212013.pixnet.net/blog/post/39935926}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |script-title=ko:황실 후손 생활 담은 다큐 만들고파 |url=https://m.chosun.com/svc/article.html?sname=news&contid=2005081870331 |access-date=7 June 2020 |publisher=[[The Chosun Ilbo]] |date=18 August 2005}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://uqconnect.net/~zzhsoszy/states/asia/korea.html Korean royalty]
* [http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200507/kt2005071920253710230.htm Death announcement in Korea Times]
* [http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20050724/480100000020050724190802E7.html Farewell to royal heir evokes memories of Korea's past]
* [http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2005072528898 obituary in the English edition of Dong-A Ilbo]

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Yi]]|29 December|1931|16 July|2005}}
{{s-roy}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-vac|last=[[Yi Un]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Crown prince]] of King Yi|years=29 December 1931 – 3 May 1947}}
{{S-non|reason=Title abolished}}
{{s-culture}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-vac|last=[[Yi Un]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Director of the [[Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association|Jeonju Lee<br>Royal Family Association]]|years=20 March 1973 – 16 July 2005}}
{{s-vac|next =[[Yi Won]]}}
{{s-pre}}
{{s-bef|rows=3|before=[[Yi Un|Crown Prince Uimin]]}}
{{s-tul|rows=3|title=[[Emperor of Korea]]|years= 1 May 1970 –  16 July 2005
|reason=[[Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty|Empire abolished in 1910]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yi Won]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yi Seok]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yi Hae-won]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{House of Yi}}
{{King Yi of Korea}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yi, Ku}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:Centre College alumni]]
[[Category:MIT School of Architecture and Planning alumni]]
[[Category:House of Yi]]
[[Category:American architects]]
[[Category:Japanese emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American people of Korean descent]]
[[Category:South Korean people of Japanese descent]]
[[Category:South Korean Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Pretenders to the Korean throne]]
[[Category:Zainichi Korean politicians]]
[[Category:People from Chiyoda, Tokyo]]
[[Category:Korean anti-communists]]