Yi Jong-geon (; 1843–1930) was a lieutenant-general of the

Imperial Korean Army The Imperial Korean Armed Forces (대한제국군) was the military of the Korean Empire. History Foundation Succeeding the Joseon Army and Navy, the Gwangmu Reform reorganized the military into a modern western-style military. The foundatio ...

. He was ennobled as Baron of Japan during the

Korea under Japanese rule From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

. After

March First Movement The March First Movement was a series of protests against Korea under Japanese rule, Japanese colonial rule that was held throughout Korea and internationally by the Korean diaspora beginning on March 1, 1919. Protests were largely concentrated in ...

, Yi tried to return his title but he failed.

Biography

He was born in 1843 as the son of Yi Gue-jeong and was adopted to Yi Gue-cheol. In 1859, Yi passed the military examination

Gwageo The () or ''kwagŏ'' were the national civil service examinations under the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1897) periods of Korea. Typically quite demanding, these tests measured candidates' ability of writing composition and knowledge ...

. During 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 ...

, Yi executed some culprits related to the coup. For this merit, Yi rose his rank under the reign of

Yeoheung Min clan The Yeoheung Min clan () is a Korean clan that traces its origin to Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province. The 2015 Korean census counted 167,124 members of the Yeoheung Min clan. Origin The progenitor of the Yeoheung Min clan was long thought to be Min C ...

during 1880s. As a member of Gaewha clique, Yi cooperated with Bak Jeongyang and

Kim Hong-jip Kim Hong-jip (; 1842 – February 11, 1896) was a Korean politician best known for his role as prime minister during the Kabo Reform period from 1895–1896. His name was originally Kim Goeng-jip () which he later changed to Kim Hong-jip ...

but ended up having struggles. Upon Gojong's return from the Russian legation, Yi rose into power as commander of police, and Mayor of Seoul. On 1 October 1897, Yi was promoted to Lieutenant general, and appointed as minister of military of Shim Soon-taek cabinet. In 1901, Yi was commissioned as the director of Military affair section of

Board of Marshals The Board of Marshals () was the ministry which managed overall the military of the Korean Empire. This was for centralizing power towards the then-emperor, Gojong of the Korean Empire. Gojong established it to have the supreme command of the arm ...

, and wrote a guide about Army Ceremony. About the Korean invasion of Manchuria, Yi justified the deployment Korean forces in Manchuria is for being a solution for continuous Chinese banditry. In 1903, Yi was appointed as special officer of Gungnaebu. He was also appointed as minister of military in 1905. On 29 July 1906, Yi was appointed as Vice Speaker of Junchuwon. On 31 May 1907, Yi was appointed as chief of equerry replacing

Cho Tong-yun Cho Tong-yun (; 1871–1923) was a general of the Imperial Korean Army and later the Imperial Japanese Army. He was one of the Korean collaborators with Imperial Japan. Biography Cho was born in 1871 as a member of Pungyang Jo clan. His father ...

. On 13 September 1907, Yi retired from the army. In 1910, Yi received the title of baron from the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

. After

, Yi felt guilty about owning a title, and attempted to return it. However, his attempt failed; he lived until 1930 and died in

. For his attempt to return the title, Yi is not considered as Korean collaborators to Imperial Japanese rule, despite receiving a title after annexation.

Honours

Order of the Palgwae The Order of the Palgwae was an order of chivalry of the Korean Empire that was given to military personnel and officials. Established on 16 April 1898, the order was divided into eight classes. Form The Order of the Palgwae had the trigram in t ...

3rd Class in 1901

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yi, Jong-geon 1843 births 1930 deaths Jeonju Yi clan Lieutenant generals of Korean Empire Imperial Korean military personnel Government officials of the Korean Empire 19th-century Korean people 20th-century Korean people Joseon Kazoku