Yi Seok

Yi Seok (Korean: 이석; born 3 August 1941) is a South Korean entrepreneur. He is a member of the House of Yi, the royal house of Joseon and Korean Empire. He is the 10th son of Prince Yi Kang, the fifth son of Emperor Gojong, and one of his consorts, Lady Hong Chŏng-sun.

In this Korean name, the family name is Yi.
Yi Seok
Head of the House of Yi
(disputed)
Imperial by Constitution16 July 2005 – present
PredecessorPrince Yi Ku
SuccessorAndrew Lee
Born (1941-08-30) 30 August 1941
Sadong Palace, Keijō, Keiki-dō, Korea
(now Seoul, South Korea)
SpouseDokko Jeonghui (divorced)[1]
Song Hui-yeong (divorced)
Kyung Sook Lee
IssueYi Hong
Yi Jin
HouseYi
FatherYi Kang, Prince Imperial Ui
MotherLady Hong Chŏng-sun
Occupation
Korean name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationLee Seok
McCune–ReischauerLee Sŏk
Birth name
Hangul
Hanja
Revised RomanizationLee Haeseok
McCune–ReischauerLee Haesŏk

Yi has been described as "one of two pretenders to the Korean throne and the only one living in Korea".[4] Yi promotes the creation of a constitutional monarchy alongside the existing presidential system. In August 2006, Yi founded the Imperial Cultural Foundation of Korea (황실문화재단) to support this proposal.

In his early life, he gained fame as a singer and he released a 1967 album Pigeon House. Since 2004, he has been employed by the city of Jeonju to promote tourism. He also serves as a professor of history at Jeonju University. Yi's guesthouse in the Jeonju Hanok Village has been visited by Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in.

Early life
Sadong Palace in 1937

Yi was born Yi Hae-seok (이해석; 李海錫) on 30 August 1941.[5][6] He was born in Sadong Palace, Seoul, in Japanese-occupied Korea. His father, Prince Yi Kang, was 62 and his mother, former telephone operator Lady Hong Chŏng-sun, was 19.[6] He was born the fifth son.[7] Of his childhood in occupied Korea, Yi later recalled in his autobiography: "I still remember clearly how my father fired a revolver into the air and ranted, 'I shall banish those Japanese who stole our country!'"[8]

The family lost Sadong Palace after 1945.[9] The subsequent rise of the First Republic of Korea also resulted in the confiscation of many of the family's other properties. After the outbreak of the Korean War, Yi and his family fled from their residence in Samcheong-dong and were reduced to poverty.[9]

At the beginning of the era of Republic of Korea, the Imperial family was banished from the Imperial palace.[6] Their lives became better after the president Park Chung Hee gained power. When studying Hankook University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, Yi learned foreign languages, principally Spanish, and became fluent. He also studied foreign relations and history, to prepare for the diplomatic service. A series of coups d'état and civil discord made that impossible.

Career

In his twenties during the 1960s, he used his musical talent to become a well-known singer and professional musician. He became known as the "Singing Prince".[10] In 1967, he recorded the album Pigeon House.[11][12] Later, Yi volunteered for the Korean military and served as an enlisted man in the Vietnam War.[13] During the war, Yi was wounded and needed to return to Korea; around the same time, his mother died of stomach cancer.[6] Yi was 26; severely depressed, he attempted suicide nine times.[6]

After President Park was assassinated in 1979, the government's subsidy to the royal family was discontinued. Yi tried various jobs to support himself.[13] In the 1980s he moved to the United States as an illegal immigrant, doing jobs including lawn mowing and cleaning swimming pools and buildings.[6] At the same time he attempted to retrieve family properties seized by the republic. Under postwar Korean law, these are no longer able to be claimed.

Return to Korea

With the changing political climate in the early 1990s, Yi returned to Korea.

In April 2004, his eldest daughter Yi Hong performed for the first time in a singing show from SBS, and Yi Seok starred on stage with her as celebration.[14]

In August 2004, Yi started running and living in a guesthouse Seunggwangjae in Jeonju Hanok Village.[15][7][lower-alpha 1] Seunggwangjae is sometimes rented by the government of Jeonju and it was built of wood, similar to the traditional way.[13] Yi runs the place with his supporters.[17] He said, "There are many things to do in Jeonju since this is where the Joseon dynasty founded. I'm going to spread the culture of the royal family and re-illuminate Jeonju's history."[17] It has been visited by Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in. Other guests include Mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon and Ambassador Harry B. Harris Jr. In May 2016, Yi became the brand ambassador of Liancourt Rocks by Ulleung County.[7]

On 16 July 2005, Yi Seok's cousin Yi Ku passed away without an heir. The Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association announced, on 22 July, that Yi Won would become Yi Ku's successor, according to his will.[18][19] During the funeral, an angered Yi Seok commented that "the funeral is not yet ended, and it's inappropriate to discuss about adopting an heir by now".[19] Later, Yi Seok claimed that "adopting a son after death doesn’t make any sense," and he also claimed that Yi Bangja, his late aunt and the mother of Yi Ku, named him as "first successor" in her will.[20]

Yi supports the creation of a constitutional monarchy for the symbolic value of having an Imperial Family.[15][21] In 2016, Yi explained his rationale as follows:

Our country requires a system in which the royal family symbolically exists, even if there is already a president.[lower-alpha 2] Only this way can put our people together.[21] [...] For 100 years, the royalty has been absent, yet the five grand palaces are still there, and the descendants of the royalty should be the ones who live inside symbolically.

— Yi, Interview with the JoongAng Ilbo, 17 August 2016

To this end, in August 2006, he became the founding leader of the Imperial Culture Foundation of Korea (황실문화재단).[15] Yi Hae-won, one of his elder half-sisters, proclaimed herself as an empress and held a coronation on 29 September 2006. Although she invited Yi Seok, he did not attend the ceremony.[20]

The Statue of King Sejong in Gwanghwamun Plaza was erected on 9 October 2009, and Yi Seok attended the unveiling ceremony.[22] According to a talk on 4 September 2014, Yi said that there is no existing contemporary portrait of Sejong the Great. The statue's face was based on that of Yi and a portrait of Grand Prince Hyoryeong, King Sejong's older brother, which is now preserved at Gwanaksan.[23][24][6]

Yi also serves as a professor of history at Jeonju University.[2]

On 7 August 2018, Harry B. Harris Jr., the United States Ambassador to South Korea, paid a visit to Seunggwangjae.[7] The mayor of Jeonju, Kim Seung-su, said, "The prince [Yi] is our history and our spirit. I would like to express my deep gratitude to the ambassadors for visiting this symbolic space."[25]

On 6 October 2018, Yi declared Andrew Lee, a distant Korean-American relative and an entrepreneur, to be the "Korean Crown Prince".[26][10] It is unknown whether Lee has any significant blood relations to the Royal Family.[27]

Personal life

Yi married and divorced four times. He is now married to a woman said to be 18 years his junior.[6] He has two daughters from his previous marriages:

  • Yi Hong (이홍, born 1974): Works as an actress in Korea. She married Han Yeong-gwang (한영광), another Korean actor. Their daughter was born in 2001.
  • Yi Jin (이진, born 1979): Works on promoting traditional Korean ceramic arts. She lives in USA.
  • In 1995, a four-part dramatization of his life story was featured in the KBS television series Screening Humanity.[28]

Ancestry

Notes
  1. 승광재; 承光齋 The name of the guesthouse is symbolic. "Seung" (승) means "succession", "Gwang" refers to the era name of his grandfather Gojong: "Gwangmu".[16]
  2. Examples of elective republican governments with constitutional monarchies exist elsewhere. For instance, in Romania, the style of the former monarch, "His Majesty", is recognized by the government of the republic. Also, in Wallis and Futuna, a series of islands belonging to France, kingdoms still exist.

References
  1. "韓国皇室の末裔イ・ホン、3・1節に父とテレビ出演". 朝鮮日報. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  2. "Heir of the last royal family becomes ceramic artist". Korea.net. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  3. "HOME 커버스토리 커버스토리 [(사)대한황실문화재단 황손 이석 총재] "대한민국은 광복의 정신으로 미래 역사를 열어가야 한다"". 8 August 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  4. "Korea.net". Archived from the original on 25 August 2018.
  5. 정, 형모 (25 March 2004). "'마지막 황손' 이석씨 서울로 올라온다" ['The Last Royal' Yi Seok Goes Up to Seoul]. JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  6. "마지막 황손 이석, 출생의 비밀은? "아버지 의친왕, 어머니는 19세"" [The Secret of the Last of the Royal Family Yi Seok's Birth? "Father Yi Kang, Mother Was 19"]. Maeil Business Newspaper (in Korean). 4 September 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  7. "「朝鮮最後の皇孫」の家を訪れた駐韓米国大使（１）". JoongAng Ilbo. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  8. "의친왕, 육혈포 쏘며 "왜놈 몰아내야지" [출처: 중앙일보] 의친왕, 육혈포 쏘며 "왜놈 몰아내야지"". 30 January 2005. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  9. "旧皇族系の李錫さん「父は六穴砲を撃ち『倭奴を放逐せよ』と」". JoongAng Ilbo. 30 January 2005. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  10. "Californian techie becomes Korean crown prince in fairytale twist". 29 December 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  11. 42년만에 음반 내는 황손 이석씨 Archived 19 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Chosun Ilbo, 2009.01.21.
  12. "デビュー目指す韓国皇室の子孫イ・ホン". WoW!Korea. 29 September 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  13. Jonathan Thatcher (20 January 2007). "Prince hopes to bring monarchy back to S.Korea". Reuters. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  14. "高宗皇帝のひ孫 イ・ホンが歌手デビュー". 朝鮮日報. 26 April 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  15. "義親王の上海臨時政府亡命が成功していれば大韓帝国は続いていたかもしれない（１）". JoongAng Ilbo. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  16. "Seunggwangjae". sgj.ne.kr. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  17. "朝鮮王朝の発源地に定着する「最後の皇孫」 李錫氏". 朝鮮日報. 25 September 2003.
  18. Sin, Hyeon-jun (21 July 2005). "끊어진 조선황실 후계 40대 회사원이 잇는다". Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  19. "朝鮮王朝の嫡統受け継ぐ李源氏 「会社生活続ける」". 朝鮮日報. 24 July 2005.
  20. Park, Sung-ha (22 October 2006). "Coronation of Korea's new empress leads to royal family controversy". Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  21. "義親王の上海臨時政府亡命が成功していれば大韓帝国は続いていたかもしれない（３）". JoongAng Ilbo. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  22. "【写真】光化門に世宗大王像が登場". JoongAng Ilbo. 10 October 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  23. "마지막 황손 이석, 세종대왕 상? 내얼굴+효령대군 동상!". THE FACT. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  24. "마지막 황손 이석 "첫 광고서 세종대왕 역, 뭉클했다"". OBS Gyeongin TV. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  25. "「朝鮮最後の皇孫」の家を訪れた駐韓米国大使（２）". JoongAng Ilbo. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  26. "Andrew Lee Named New Korean Crown Prince". PR Newswire. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  27. "재미교포 앤드류 리, 조선 왕실 세자 되다" [Korean American Andrew Lee Becomes Crown Prince of the Joseon Dynasty]. Overseas Koreans Times (in Korean). 5 December 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  28. 서, 광원 (15 April 1995). "王孫(왕손)가수 이석 일대기 KBS 드라마로 제작". Kyunghyang Shinmun. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
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