36-year-old Empress Sunjeonghyo in 1930 Empress Sunjeonghyo (; 7 September 1894 – 3 February 1966), was the second wife of

Sunjong of Korea Sunjong (; 25 March 1874 – 24 April 1926), personal name Yi Cheok (), also known as the Yunghui Emperor (), was the last Korean monarch. He ruled from 1907 to 1910 as the second and last emperor of the Korean Empire. Sunjong was elevated to ...

, and was also the only Empress consort of

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Biography

Early life

Sunjeonghyo was born Yun Jeung-sun () on 19 September 1894 in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. She was born to Lady Yu of the and Yun Taek-yeong, a member of the Haepyeong Yun clan and an official of Joseon''.'' Her paternal grandmother, Lady Hong, was a 5th great-granddaughter of

Princess Jeongmyeong Princess Jeongmyeong (; 27 June 1603 – 8 September 1685) was a Joseon Royal Princess as the tenth daughter of King Seonjo from Queen Inmok. During her older half-brother's reign, she suffered hardships, and her title was revoked, but later it ...

, daughter of

Seonjo of Joseon Seonjo (; 6 December 1552 – 6 March 1608), personal name Yi Yeon (), was the 14th monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He was known for promoting Confucianism and attempting reforms at the beginning of his reign. However, he later gained ...

and

Queen Inmok Queen Inmok (; 5 December 1584 – 3 August 1632), of the Yonan Kim clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and second queen consort of Yi Yeon, King Seonjo, the 14th Joseon monarch. She was queen consort of Joseon from 1602 until her ...

. Lady Hong was also a third cousin twice removed of

Lady Hyegyŏng Lady Hyegyŏng of the Pungsan Hong clan (; 6 August 1735 – 13 January 1816), also known as Queen Heongyeong (), was a Korean writer and Crown prince, Crown Princess during the Joseon period. She was the wife of Crown Prince Sado and mother ...

. Through adoptions within the Haepyeong Yun clan, she was a 13th great-granddaughter (or 13th great-grandniece, biologically) of Yun Du-su; as well as

Yun Posun Yun Po-sun (, or ; August 26, 1897 – July 18, 1990) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the president of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. He was the only president of the short-lived Second Republic of Korea, and served as ...

, the 2nd

President of South Korea The president of the Republic of Korea (), also known as the president of South Korea (), is the head of state and head of government of South Korea. The president directs the executive branch of the Government of South Korea, government and is ...

, was her ninth cousin three times removed. On her mother's side, Yun's maternal grandfather, Yu Jin-hak, was a maternal adoptive nephew of

Queen Sinjeong Queen Sinjeong (; 9 January 1809 – 23 May 1890), of the Pungyang Jo clan, was the only wife of Crown Prince Hyomyeong and mother of Heonjong of Joseon. She was never formally a Queen but was known as Queen Dowager Jo () during the reign of her ...

; thus making her the adoptive great-grandniece of the late Queen. Her younger sister eventually married Yu Gil-jun's eldest son, Yu Eok-gyeom.

Marriage and life in the palace

To how Lady Yun was chosen to be the next wife of crown prince was from the help of Imperial Consort Sunheon. Prior to the marriage, the

Imo Incident The Imo Incident, also sometimes known as the Imo Mutiny, Soldier's riot or Jingo-gunran in Japanese, was a violent uprising and riot in Seoul beginning in 1882, by soldiers of the Joseon Army who were later joined by disaffected members of the ...

of 1882 had forced

Empress Myeongseong Empress Myeongseong (; 17 November 1851 – 8 October 1895) was the official wife of Gojong, the 26th king of Joseon and the first emperor of the Korean Empire. During her lifetime, she was known by the name Queen Min (). After the founding o ...

to flee from the palace, which brought Eom to demonstrate extreme loyalty to Gojong. The imperial consort, known at the time was Court Lady Eom, and the king became close during that time until Queen Min returned to the palace. In 1885, the Queen consort expelled Eom from the palace when she discovered Eom wearing Gojong's clothing () at the age of 32. Her expulsion stripped her of her position and title, but a high-ranking official, Yun Yong-seon, Lady Yun's grandfather, purportedly interceded on her behalf with Gojong, and she was forgiven. Eom never forgot the grace of Yun Yong-seon. Because the seat was vacant, Imperial Consort Sunheon recommended the adoptive great-granddaughter of Yun after Crown Prince Yi Cheok's first wife, Crown Princess Consort Min, died on 5 November 1904. Yun Jeung-sun married the 32-year-old Crown Prince Cheok on 24 January 1907 at the age of 13. When she became Crown Princess Consort, her mother was given the royal title of "Internal Princess Consort Gyeongheung of the Gigye Yun clan" () while her father was given the royal title of "Internal Prince Haepung Yun Taek-yeong" (). On 20 July 1907, she became Empress Consort of Korea when her husband ascended the throne after the forced abdication of his father,

Gojong of Korea Gojong (; 8 September 1852 – 21 January 1919), personal name Yi Myeongbok (), later Yi Hui (), also known as the Gwangmu Emperor (), was the penultimate List of monarchs of Korea, Korean monarch. He ruled Korea for 43 years, from 1864 to 19 ...

. The Empress was demoted by the Japanese government by the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910 and thereafter officially known as ''Her Majesty'', Queen Yi of Korea (this title, however, was ignored in Korea). Because of her demotion, she was known by her given alternative royal title as Queen Yun () and lived at Daejojeon Hall. But when she was given the royal title of Queen Yi of Changdeok Palace (), she eventually moved into the palace's Nakseon Hall when her husband's health worsened. Empress Sunjeonghyo became a widow on 24 April 1926, when Emperor Yunghui died without issue at the palace

Changdeokgung Changdeokgung () is a former royal palace in Seoul, South Korea. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Historic Sites (South Korea), Historic Site of South Korea, it is among the best preserved of all Korean palaces. It and its neighboring palace Cha ...

in Seoul. Emperor Yunghui had been rendered infertile (and was also said to be mentally disabled) by poisoning in the 1898 Coffee Poisoning Plot. In 1939, the Queen's family clan was pressured to change their family name to a Japanese surname. At the time,

Sōshi-kaimei was a policy of pressuring Koreans under Japanese rule to adopt Japanese names and identify as such. The primary reason for the policy was to forcibly assimilate Koreans, as was done with the Ainu and the Ryukyuans. The Sōshi-kaimei has been ...

was a policy of pressuring Koreans under Japanese rule to adopt Japanese names. But her uncle, Yun Deok-yeong, opposed such a thing to happen and maintained their Korean surname.

Korean War

During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, Empress Sunjeonghyo stayed in Changdeok Palace as long as she could in the face of advancing forces from North Korea. During the war, the soldiers of North Korea invaded the palace but she reproved them and drove them all out. She then escaped secretly to the palace

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 ...

when the war situation became too serious. As the war progressed, she moved to

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

with other Imperial family members, including Princess Hui (wife of Prince Wanheung). According to ''The World is One'', Princess Yi Bangja's autobiography, Empress Sunjeonghyo went to Busan on foot.

After the Korean War

After the war, the new government of President Rhee Syng-man, jealous of the popularity of the Imperial House, prevented Empress Sunjeonghyo from entering the palace

. She was kept imprisoned in Suin Hall, a narrow and unsuitable cottage in Jeongneung,

. After a change in government in 1961 she returned to Nakseon Hall,

with her dutiful ladies-in-waiting: Park Chang-bok (d. 1981), Kim Myung-gil (d. 1983) and Sung Ok-yeom (d. 2001), and five other staff. After 37 years, Princess Deokhye was also able to return to Korea at the invitation of the South Korean government on 26 January 1962 due to reporter Kim Eul-han's help. She was later welcomed and reunited by her kindergarten and elementary school classmate, and her 72-year-old wet nurse when they went to pick her up at

Gimpo Airport Gimpo International Airport , sometimes referred to as Seoul–Gimpo International Airport but formerly rendered in English as Kimpo International Airport, is located in the far western end of Seoul, some west of the central district of Seou ...

. The empress later meet her that same day before the princess underwent a surgery at

Seoul National University Hospital Seoul National University Hospital () is a teaching hospital located in Yeongeon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is a general and teaching hospital of Seoul National University's College of Medicine. Description It consists of four bran ...

. Empress Sunjeonghyo became a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

in her later years. She died childless on 3 February 1966, aged 72, at Nakseon Hall, Changdeok Palace, Seoul from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. She was given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

and a private Buddhist funeral. She is buried beside her husband, Emperor Yunghui and his first wife,

Empress Sunmyeong Empress Sunmyeonghyo or literally known as Sunmyeong, the Filial Piety Empress (; 8 November 1872 – 23 October 1904), of the Yeoheung Min clan, was the first wife and Crown Princess Consort of Crown Prince Yi Cheok, who later became the ...

, at the Yureung Imperial Tomb.

Family

* Father ** Yun Taek-yeong (; 1876 – 24 October 1935) * Mother ** Internal Princess Consort Gyeongheung of the Gigye Yu clan (; 1876 – 1936) * Siblings ** Older brother - Yun Hong-seop () or Yun Song-mu (; 1893 – 1955); became the adoptive son of his uncle, Yun Si-yeong ** Younger sister - Yun Hui-seop (; 6 November 1905 – ?) ** Younger brother - Yun Ui-seop (; 8 March 1912 – 25 February 1965); succeeded his father in becoming Marquis * Husband ** Yi Cheok, Emperor Sunjong (25 March 1874 – 24 April 1926) — No issue. *** Mother-in-law - Min Ja-yeong, Empress Myeongseong of the Yeoheung Min clan (17 November 1851 – 8 October 1895) *** Father-in-law - Yi Hui, Emperor Gojong of Korea (9 September 1852 – 21 January 1919) * Issue ** Adoptive son - Prince Yi Jin (; 18 August 1921 – 11 May 1922)

In popular culture

* Portrayed by Jang Seo-hee in the 1990 MBC TV series ''500 Years of Joseon: Daewongun'' * Portrayed by Kim Ji-mi in the 1966 film ''The Last Empress'' * Portrayed by Song Seo-ha in the 2016 film '' The Last Princess''

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunjeonghyo Of Korean Empire, Empress 1894 births 1966 deaths Korean empresses House of Yi Converts to Buddhism Korean Buddhist monarchs Korean Empire Buddhists People from Yangpyeong County Haepyeong Yun clan