He was born the second son of
Prince Kang, the fifth son of
Emperor Gojong. At the age of five, he was adopted to be the heir of the deceased
Prince Yeongseon, the 3rd head of Unhyeon Palace and the only son of the elder brother of
Emperor Gojong,
Prince Hui. He was taken to Japan shortly afterwards to attend the
Gakushūin, the Peers School, where other Korean and Japanese Imperial princes and princesses received their education from the elementary, all the way to high school programming. However, unlike his elder brother,
Prince Geon, he maintained his identity as a Korean, despite his Japanese education. This made him the favorite son of his father, Prince Kang, who himself attempted to escape from Korea to join the exiled Korean government. He overcame all attempts by the Japanese to marry him off to a minor Japanese noble, and married
Lady Park Chan-ju of the Bannam Park clan, a granddaughter of
Marquis Pak Yung-hio who was a husband of Princess Yŏnghye of Korea. They had two children,
Yi Cheong and Yi Jong. Prince Yi served in the
Japanese Army and was stationed in China. Commissioned a
second lieutenant on 25 October 1933, he was promoted to lieutenant on 25 October 1935, to captain on 1 March 1938, to
major on 15 October 1941 and to
lieutenant colonel on 10 June 1945. == Death ==