Park Chan-ju (박찬주, 朴贊珠) (11 December 1914 – 13 July 1995), was the spouse of Prince

Yi U Colonel Prince Yi U (15 November 1912 – 7 August 1945) was a member of the imperial family of Korea as a prince, the 4th head of Unhyeon Palace, and a lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He was killed ...

of Korea. She was a granddaughter of

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

Park Yeong-hyo Park Yung-hyo or Bak Young-hyo (; 1861 – 21 September 1939) was a Korea, Korean politician from the Joseon Dynasty, an enlightenment activist, diplomat and Chinilpa, pro-Japanese collaborator. He was one of the organizers of the Gapsin Co ...

, who was a son-in-law of King

Cheoljong of Joseon Cheoljong of Joseon (25 July 1831 – 16 January 1864) was the 25th king of the Joseon, reigning from 1849 to 1864. After Heonjong of Joseon died without male heir in 1849, Queen Sunwon chose Cheoljong, aged 19, to be the next king, as the heir ...

as a husband of Princess Yeonghye of Korea. They had two children, Yi Chung and Yi Jong.

Biography

Park Chan-ju was born into the Bannam Park clan on 11 December 1914 in

Keijō Keijō, or Gyeongseong, was an administrative district of Chōsen that corresponds to the present Seoul, the capital of South Korea. :ko:경성부, -(Seoul of Korea under Japanese rule) Honmachi The central district of Gyeongseong was Ho ...

(Gyeongseong), Keiki-dō (Gyeonggi Province),

Chōsen Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offici ...

to Park Il-seo and his wife, Park Won-hui as the eldest daughter within their youngest five sons and youngest daughter. In March 1932, Chan-ju graduated from Kyungsung Girls' High School (now known today as Gyeonggi Girls' High School), and went to Japan to study in Tokyo Women's Learning Center. Prince Uihwa did not want

, his second son, to marry a Japanese noblewoman and insisted that he marry a Korean noblewoman unlike his brother, Prince Yi Geon. Since Park Yeong-hyo was close friends with Prince Uihwa, both wanted to find a way to reject Yi U's marriage to a Japanese bride. Park had spoken about setting up his eldest granddaughter with Prince Uihwa's second eldest son. Yi U's adoptive mother, Lady Kim of the Gwangsan Kim clan, disliked Chan-ju because the prince had attempted to kill his adoptive father,

Yi Jun-yong Yi Junyong (Hangul: 이준용, Hanja: 李埈鎔), known as Prince Yeongseon (영선군, 永善君) (23 July 1870 – 22 March 1917) was a politician, thinker, and member of the Korean Joseon Dynasty's royal family, politicians, and later became ...

(the nephew of

Emperor Gojong Gojong (; 8 September 1852 – 21 January 1919) was the monarch of Korea from 1864 to 1907. He reigned as the last King of Joseon from 1864 to 1897, and as the first Emperor of Korea from 1897 until his forced abdication in 1907. He is known ...

and

Empress Myeongseong Empress Myeongseong or Empress Myungsung (명성황후 민씨; 17 November 1851 – 8 October 1895In lunar calendar, the Empress was born on 25 September 1851 and died on 20 August 1895), informally known as Empress Min, was the official wife ...

) who tried to assassinate and rebel towards Kim Hak-woo (Hangul: 김학우, Hanja: 金鶴羽) of the Legal Affairs Association, with charges in 1895 while her grandfather served as Minister of Interior. The prince had notified Minister Han Chang-soo (Hangul: 한창수, Hanja: 韓昌洙) to establish the marriage when he sent an engagement ring to Chan-ju, but Lee Wang-jik (이왕직), a Minister who was in charge of the affairs of the royal family, had protested against the marriage as it was done without the Emperor's acknowledge and tried to pressure the prince to marry within the Japanese royal family instead. Yi U was adamant in marrying a Korean, and with Park Yeong-hyo's influence against Japanese politics, the Japanese royal court and Lee Wang-jik acknowledged the Yi U's and Park Chan-ju's marriage. Chan-ju's grandfather had pretended that the marriage with a Japanese noblewoman was withdrawn, and had gone to Tokyo to make use of his political, aristocratic, and personal connections to eventually have the acknowledgement of the engagement announced by the Japanese Imperial Palace on 11 July 1934. On 17 April 1935, Emperor Showa made a decree to acknowledge the marriage in which the wedding ceremony of the couple was held in Tokyo on 3 May 1935. When the married couple returned to Keijō, they visited the Jongmyo Shrine and Neungwon, and held a ceremony at the Joseon Hotel and

Unhyeongung Unhyeongung (), also known as Unhyeongung Royal Residence, is a former Korean royal residence located at 114-10 Unni-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea. It was formerly the residence of the Heungseon Daewongun a prince regent of Korea during the Joseo ...

Palace.“이우공 동비 양전하 가례후 어초환가” (PDF). 매일신보. 1935년 6월 29일. 2016년 3월 4일에 원본 문서 (PDF)에서 보존된 문서. 2014년 4월 23일에 확인함. Their eldest son was born on 23 April 1936 and their second son was on 9 November 1940 in separate residences in Tokyo. In 1938, the building they lived in was donated to the female activist and educator Hwang Shin-deok (황신덕) to help establish the Kyungsung Family Ryosuk (now known as Joongang Girls' High School). On 25 August 1945, Park Chan-ju had lost Yi U to the

atomic bombing of Hiroshima The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...

and went to live at Unhyeongung Palace with her two sons. In April 1950, she became the first chairman of Chugye University of Arts, Joongang Girls' High School, and Chugye Elementary School. In 1992, Unhyeongung Palace was sold to Seoul, and after spending her last years at her home in Bukahyeon-dong,

Seodaemun Seodaemun District (, "Great West Gate") is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Seodaemun has a population of 313,814 (2010) and has a geographic area of 17.61 km2 (6.8 sq mi), and is divided into 14 '' dong'' (administrative neigh ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, she died from an illness on 13 July 1995. She is buried with her husband Yi U at the gravesite of

Heungseon Daewongun Heungseon Daewongun (흥선대원군, 興宣大院君, 21 December 1820 – 22 February 1898; ), also known as the Daewongun (대원군, 大院君), Guktaegong (국태공, 國太公, "The Great Archduke") or formally Internal King Heungseon Heon ...

in Changhyeon, Hwado-eub, Namyang,

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

Family

* Great-Great-Great-Grandfather ** Park Hae-su (박해수, 朴海壽) * Great-Great-Grandfather ** Park Je-dang (박제당, 朴齊堂) (1784 - 1858) * Great-Great-Grandmother ** Lady Yi of the Yeonan Yi clan (연안 이씨, 延安李氏) (1783 - 1818) * Great-Grandfather ** Park Won-yang (박원양, 朴元陽) (1804 - 17 December 1884) * Great-Grandmother ** Lady Lee of the Jeonui Lee clan (전의 이씨, 全義李氏) (1817 - 1884) * Grandfather **

(박영효, 朴泳孝) (1861 - 21 September 1939) * Father ** Park Il-seo (박일서, 朴日緖) (1897 - 1931) * Mother ** Park Won-hui (박원희, 朴元熙) (1889 - 1969) *** Grandfather: Park Hyeon-gyeong (박현경) * Siblings ** Younger brother: Park Chan-byeom (박찬범, 朴贊汎) (17 August 1917 - 23 November 1986); succeeded his father in becoming Marquis *** Sister-in-law: Yi Hae-chun (이해춘, 李海珺) (1920 - 2009), later divorced; Third daughter of

Yi Kang Yi Kang, Prince Imperial Ui (Korean: 의친왕 이강, 30 March 1877－15 August 1955), also known as Prince Uihwa, was the second son of Emperor Gojong of Korea and his concubine, Lady Jang, who was a court lady-in-waiting. It was not until 1 ...

**** Nephew: Park Hyeong-woo (박형우, 朴亨雨) (1937 - 2012) ** Younger brother: Park Chan-ik (박찬익, 朴贊益) (1920 - 2003) *** Nephew: Park Mi-woo (박미우, 朴美雨) *** Nephew: Park Il-woo (박일우, 朴一雨) *** Nephew: Park Jun-woo (박준우, 朴俊雨) ** Younger brother: Park Chan-woo (박찬우, 朴贊友); died prematurely ** Younger sister: Park Chan-ok (박찬옥, 朴贊玉) ** Younger brother: Park Chan-eung (박찬웅, 朴贊雄) (1926 - 1950) ** Younger brother: Park Chan-yong (박찬용, 朴贊用) (1927 - 1945) * Husband ** Prince Yi U (이우, 李鍝) (15 August 1912 - 7 July 1945) *** Father-in-law: Yi Kang, King Uichin (의친왕 이강) (30 March 1877 - 16 August 1955) *** Mother-in-law: Lady Kim Heung-in of the Suindang Hall (수인당 김흥인) **** Legal mother-in-law: Kim Su-deok, Queen Uichin (김수덕 의친왕비) (22 December 1880 – 14 January 1964) * Sons **

Yi Cheong Yi Cheong (born 23 April 1936) is a member of the former Imperial Family of Korea and was a Korean-Japanese noble during Korea under Japanese rule in 1945–1947. He is a great-great-grandson of Heungseon Daewongun and the eldest son of Yi U ...

(이청, 李淸) (23 April 1936) *** Daughter-in-law: Kim Chae-yeong (김채영) (1949) **** Unnamed grandson ** Yi Jong (이종, 李淙) (9 November 1940 - 25 December 1966)

Notes

{{King Yi of Korea 1914 births 1995 deaths Princesses of Joseon