Yi Ku

Yi Gu
Hangul	이구
Hanja	李玖
Revised Romanization	I Gu
McCune–Reischauer	Yi Ku
Claimed Imperial title
Hangul	황태손
Hanja	皇太孫
Revised Romanization	Hwangtaeson*
McCune–Reischauer	Hwangt'aeson
Claimed Posthumous title
Hangul	회은황태손
Hanja	懷隱皇太孫
Revised Romanization	Hoeeun Hwangtaeson**
McCune–Reischauer	Hoeŭn Hwangt'aeson
	meaning "Prince Imperial"; **meaning "Prince Imperial Hoeun";

Yi Gu
Yi Gu
	Gu as a young boy
Emperor of Korea
Pretend	1 May 1970 – 16 July 2005
Predecessor	Crown Prince Yi Un
Successor	Disputed; Prince Yi Won or Prince Yi Seok
Born	29 December 1931; Kitashirakawa Palace (now Akasaka Prince Hotel), Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan
Died	16 July 2005 (aged 73); Akasaka Prince Hotel, Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan
Spouse	Julia Mullock (1959-1982)
Father	Yi Un
Mother	Masako Nashimoto
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Prince Yi Ku (29 December 1931 – 16 July 2005) was a claimant to the throne of Korea, contested twenty-ninth head of the Korean Imperial family, and the grandson of Gojong of the Korean 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 Bangja, born Masako Nashimoto, a Japanese princess. If his claim had been accepted, and Korea were still a monarchy, his title would have been "His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince of Korea".

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 on 1960 to 1964. Made stateless by Japan in 1947, Gu acquired U.S. 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.

In November 1996, he made what he hoped would be his permanent return to Korea but, showing signs of a nervous breakdown, he was unable to adjust to life in Korea. Restlessly going back and forth between Japan and Korea, he eventually died of a heart attack at the age of seventy-three, on 16 July 2005 at the Akasaka Prince Hotel, the former residence of his parents in Tokyo, Japan. His funeral was held on 24 July 2005 and his posthumous title decided as "Prince Imperial Hoeun of Korea" by the Lee Family Council.

External links

Yi Ku House of Yi (Chosŏn dynasty) Born: 29 December 1931 Died: 16 July 2005
Preceded by Yi Un	— TITULAR — Emperor of Korea 1 May 1970 – 16 July 2005 Reason for succession failure: Empire abolished by Japanese annexation 1910	Succeeded by Yi Won

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[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.

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