Portrait of Yi Un

Birthday profile

Yi Un

Yi Un, South Korean general (died 1970)

Born
October 20, 1897
Died
May 1, 1970
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1897

About Yi Un

Yi Un (이은; 李垠; 20 October 1897 – 1 May 1970) was the last crown prince of the Korean Empire, the head of the former Korean imperial house after 1926, and a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He was the seventh son of Gojong of Korea and the son of Imperial Noble Consort Sunheon. Yi Un was designated crown prince in 1907 and was taken to Japan later that year for education under Japanese supervision. After the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910, the former Korean imperial house was incorporated into the Japanese-created ōkōzoku system. He married Princess Masako of Nashimoto in 1920 and succeeded Sunjong of Korea in 1926 as Yi Wang (李王), the Japanese-recognized head of the former Korean royal house. Yi Un served in the Japanese army, reached the rank of lieutenant general, served on the North China front, commanded the First Air Army, and was appointed a military councillor near the end of the Pacific War. After Japan's defeat in 1945, he lost his royal status in Japan and remained there until South Korea permitted his return in 1963. He returned while seriously ill and died at Changdeokgung in 1970. His mother was the Honorable Princess Consort Eom Seon-yeong, a palace attendant, who was posthumously awarded the title of Princess Sunheon. He was then enrolled in the 29th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, from which he graduated on 25 May 1917 with an excellent record. Before becoming the heir apparent to Sunjong of Korea, who became the emperor in 1907, Yi Un was known as the title Prince Imperial Yeong (영친왕). On 10 June 1926, upon the death of Emperor Sunjong, Yi Un received the late emperor's title, and became the King Yi of Changdeokgung (昌徳宮李王), which referred to the palace Changdeokgung.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Yi Un timeline

  1. Before becoming the heir apparent to Sunjong of Korea, who became the emperor in 1907, Yi Un was known as the title Prince Imperial Yeong (영친왕).
  2. He was then enrolled in the 29th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, from which he graduated on 25 May 1917 with an excellent record.
  3. On 10 June 1926, upon the death of Emperor Sunjong, Yi Un received the late emperor's title, and became the King Yi of Changdeokgung (昌徳宮李王), which referred to the palace Changdeokgung.

The world when Yi Un was born

Yi Un was born in 1897. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineKlondike Gold Rush begins in Canada
  • Technology milestoneFirst practical diesel engine built
  • Defining fadKlondike Gold Rush fever
  • World population~1.57B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWilliam McKinley
  • U.S. population70.0M

1897 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Yi Un's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18972026
Population70.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.