Deokhye, Princess of Korea - Arranged Marriage

Arranged Marriage

In 1925, she was taken to Japan under the pretense of continuing her studies. Like her brothers, she attended the Gakushuin. She was described as silent and isolative. Upon the news of her mother's death in 1929, she isolated herself in her rooms and was eventually given permission to visit Korea temporarily to attend her mother's funeral in 1930. In the Spring of 1930, upon the onset of mental illness (manifested by sleepwalking), she moved to King Lee's Palace, her brother Crown Prince Eun's house in Tokyo. During this period, she often forgot to eat and drink. Her physician diagnosed her illness as precocious dementia, but by the following year, her condition seemed to have improved.

In May 1931, after "matchmaking" by Empress Teimei, the consort of Emperor Taishō of Japan, she married Count Sō Takeyuki (武志), {1923-1985} a Japanese nobleman . The marriage had in fact been decided in 1930; her brother had protested against it, and it had been postphoned because of her condition, but when she recovered, she was immediately given instructions that the marriage was to take place. She gave birth to a daughter, Masae (正惠) on 14 August 1932. In 1933, Deokhye was again afflicted with mental illness, and after this, she spent many years in various mental clinics. She finally divorced her husband in 1953. Suffering an unhappy marriage, her grief was compounded by the loss of her only daughter who committed suicide by drowning in 1955. After this, her condition deteriorated.