Prince Yi Kang

Prince Yi Kang

Prince Yi Kang, the Prince Imperial Uihwa (also Euihwa), (born 30 March 1877 – 15 August 1955) was the fifth son of Emperor Gwangmu of Korea and his concubine, Lady Yang who was a court lady-in-waiting.

He received his given name of Yi Gang and was titled Prince Uihwa with the style of His Royal Highness in 1891. He married Lady Gim Sudeok, later known as the Princess Duk-in (22 December 1880 – 14 January 1964), a daughter of 1st Baron Gim Sajun.

He could not become the Crown Prince, even though he was older than his brother Prince Imperial Yeong, because the Japanese government (who selected the crown prince of Korea themselves) disliked his rebellious nature. Additionally, his mother had already died, weakening his claim to the throne.

He was appointed special ambassador to Japan for the celebration of Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese war in 1894. The next year, he visited six European countries as an ambassador extraordinary: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, Italy and Austria.

He went to the United States to study and was promoted to the rank of Prince Imperial Eui, styled His Imperial Highness, in 1899. He also served as the president of the Korean Red Cross from 1906 to 1910.

In 1919, he collaborated with Choe Ikhwan, a member of Daedongdan, who attempted to support him as the new leader of Korea. He tried to escape to the provisional government, but he was discovered in Manchuria, China and returned to his home country. After this, he cooperated and supported the Japanese government's occupation of Korea, and had continued this support until the end of the war.

He died in 1955, at the age of seventy-eight, at Seongrak Manor, Seongbuk-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, South Korea and is buried at Hongyu-reung in Namyang-ju near Seoul.