Yi Gu, Prince Imperial Hoeun 회은황태손 이구 懷隱皇太孫 李玖 |
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Gu as a young boy
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Emperor of Korea | |
Pretend | 1 May 1970 – 16 July 2005 |
Predecessor | Yi Eun, Crown Prince Euimin |
Successor | Yi Won, Hereditary Prince Imperial |
Born |
Kitashirakawa Palace (now Akasaka Prince Hotel), Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan |
29 December 1931
Died | 16 July 2005 Akasaka Prince Hotel, Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan |
(aged 73)
Spouse | Julia Mullock (m. 1959; div. 1982) |
Issue | Eugenia Unsuk (adopted) |
House | House of Yi |
Father | Yi Un |
Mother | Masako of Nashimoto |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 이구 |
Hanja | 李玖 |
Revised Romanization | I Gu |
McCune–Reischauer | Yi Ku |
Imperial title | |
Hangul | 황태손 |
Hanja | 皇太孫 |
Revised Romanization | Hwangtaeson* |
McCune–Reischauer | Hwangt'aeson |
Posthumous title | |
Hangul | 회은황태손 |
Hanja | 懷隱皇太孫 |
Revised Romanization | Hoeeun Hwangtaeson** |
McCune–Reischauer | Hoeŭn Hwangt'aeson |
Prince Yi Gu, the Prince Imperial Hoeun (29 December 1931 – 16 July 2005) was a Korean prince. He was pretender to the Korean Imperial Throne from 1970 until he died in 2005. He was the grandson of Gojong of the Joseon dynasty.
Gu was born in Kitashirakawa Palace (now Akasaka Prince Hotel), Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan; his father was Crown Prince Eun of Korea, and his mother was Princess Yi Bangja, born Masako Nashimoto, a Japanese princess.
Gu 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.. He was employed as an architect with I.M. Pei & Assocs, Manhattan, New York from 1960 to 1964. Made stateless by Japan in 1947, Gu acquired United States citizenship in 1959, and Korean citizenship in 1964. He married Julia Mullock (b. 1928) 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 in Nakseon Hall, Changdeok Palace 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, Mrs. Arita.