| Yi Cheong | |
|---|---|
| Duke Yi 4th generation ofYi Hui line | |
| Reign | 1945–1947 |
| Predecessor | Yi U |
| Successor | None |
| Born | (1936-04-23)23 April 1936 (age 88) Tokyo Villa of Duke Yi U, Tokiwamatsuchō,Shibuya,Tokyo City,Empire of Japan |
| Spouse | |
| House | House of Yi |
| Father | Yi U |
| Mother | Park Chan-ju |
| Yi Cheong | |
| Hangul | 이청 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 李淸 |
| Revised Romanization | I Cheong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ri Ch'ŏng |
Yi Cheong (born 23 April 1936) is a member of the formerImperial Family of Korea and was aKorean-Japanese noble duringKorea under Japanese rule in 1945–1947. He is a great-great-grandson ofHeungseon Daewongun and the eldest son ofYi U andPark Chan-ju.
TheEmpire of Japan was defeated during theWorld War II in 1945; as the result, a new Japanese constitution was revised, in which Japanese nobility status was invalid since 1947, making Yi Cheong lost his nobility titles. He later graduated fromMarquette University in the United States.[1] In 2006, based on multiplehistorical sources including theJournal of the Royal Secretariat, Yi Cheong published a 4-volume compilation about the history of his ancestor,Heungseon Daewongun.[2]
Born on April 23, 1936, 16:38 in the Tokyo residence fromShibuya,Tokyo City of theEmpire of Japan, he is the eldest son of DukeYi U and DuchessPark Chan-ju; he was later named, on April 29 of the same year, "Ri Sei" (リ セイ) in Japanese[3] and "Yi Cheong" (이청) in Korean. Yi U was the second son of PrinceYi Kang and the heir toYi Jun-yong, and Park Chan-ju was a granddaughter ofMarquisPak Yung-hio, the son-in-law ofKing Cheoljong of Joseon.[4] In 1942, as a member of noble family, Yi Cheong enrolled inGakushuin; as of 1944, he returned toKeijō (nowSeoul of Korea) and resided in his ancestral home,Unhyeongung.[5] On August 7, 1945, Yi Cheong's father, Yi U, was killed by the atomic bombLittle Boy during his way to work inHiroshima; as his heir, Yi Cheong succeeded his title asDuke Yi Cheong (李淸公) three days later.[6]
After theWorld War II, a series of nobility titles within Japan were abolished, includingkazoku and Korean nobles, Yi Cheong lost his title in 1947 became a commoner ever since; around the same time, theRepublic of Korea was founded. A law was legislated regarding the property of the former Imperial family and many of which was confiscated,[7] but after the negotiation by Park Chan-ju, Yi Cheong and his family were allowed to own Unhyeongung, which was returned in 1948, based on the fact that the origin of Unhyeongung was the private residence ofHeungseon Daewongun and his family.[8] Under their procession, nevertheless, the scale of current Unhyeongung is much smaller than it used to be, because parts of the land were sold in decades, for various reasons including debt settlement and road expansion. During the tenure of PresidentSyngman Rhee in 1950s, since Yi Cheong and Rhee are both from theJeonju Yi clan[9] and the latter was childless, Rhee asked to adopt Yi Cheong after they met, but this proposal was refused by the family of Unhyeongung.[10][11] In 1954, Yi Cheong went toKyunggi High School and later, in 1960, he acquired the decree from the Department of Civil Engineering ofMarquette University,United States.[1] On December 25, 1966, Yi Cheong's younger brother, Yi Jong, passed away in a traffic accident during his study career in the United States, making Yi Cheong the only remaining issue of his family.[12]
Since his graduation, Yi Cheong worked as an engineer in H.T. Spoden & Associates in 1960-64 and Boss H. Bryan, a united design office, in 1965-69; both were inTennessee. He also became a postgraduate inDePaul University for a year in 1970. As of 1974, he became the vice president of Dongwon Engineering Consultant Ltd. and he returned to Korea in 1991.[13] In 1993, due to inability to maintain Unhyeongung, Yi Cheong and his mother decided to sell the palace to the municipal government ofSeoul, and he moved toBugahyeon-dong inSeodaemun District[14] and later toPyeongchang-dong. As of 1994, he was hired as a lecturer inYonsei University[13] as well as a visiting professor in the College of Business Administration ofUniversity of Seoul since 1998; he was a former member of the Korean Society of Civil Engineers (KSCE) and Architectural Institute of Korea.[5]
In 2007, the Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property (ICJCP), a Korean government institute existed in 2006-10, announced thatPrince Imperial Heung and his son,Yi Jun-yong (both were Yi Cheong's adoptive ancestors), were bothchinilpa, as they were the Korean Imperial representatives and they agreed to sign theJapan–Korea Treaty of 1910. As a response, Yi Cheong appealed a judicial case, asking to undo the decision and claiming that the act was unconstitutional; the court eventually announced that the plaintiff lost the case.[15]
After selling Unhyeongung, Yi Cheong still continues to donate relics and lands from his family. In 2007, he gave more than 8,000 artifacts to theSeoul Museum of History; in 2018, the cemetery of Heungseon Daewongun, covered an area of 2,555square metres, and its surrounding lands of 129,935 square metres were given toGyeonggi Province; they would cost 5.2 billionSouth Korean won (approximately $4.33 million) if the land were to be sold. For appreciation, the municipal government gave him a plaque as recognition.[16]
Kings Yi & Dukes Yi of Korea (李王・李公, 1910–1947) | |||||||||
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| King Emeritus Yi of Deoksu Palace |
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| King Yi of Changdeok Palace | |||||||||
| Queen consort Yi ofChangdeok Palace |
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| Crown Prince of Yi | |||||||||
| Dukes of Yi |
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See alsoHouse of Yi | |||||||||