Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association

The Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association () is a family association based in South Korea founded by the Jeonju Yi (Lee) clan, the household of Joseon and the Korean Empire, which previously ruled Korea. The association originated from several national institutions of the Joseon dynasty. Its recent main activities following World War II include holding annual Jongmyo jerye, the worship rites of the royal ancestors, and compiling genealogy books of the descendants from the House of Yi.

History The king Taejo of Joseon started his reign in 1392, and some of the institution setups included an office to handle affairs regarding the royal family.（太祖元年七月廿八日） The policy was continued by his son, Taejong of Joseon, who created the "Office of Royal Genealogy" (宗簿寺, 종부시) in 1401.（太祖元年七月十三日） The office existed for centuries, and a reformation was executed in 1864, during the reign of King Gojong.（高宗二年六月十日） It was eventually abolished in 1907.

After the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, the former emperor Sunjong of Korea issued a decree, allowing the descendants of the royal family to form a private organization so as to strengthen the relationship within the clan, and his half-brother Prince Imperial Ui was recognized as the founder of the said organization, which had a collection from Emperor Sunjong, including a commemorative plaque with Sunjong's Chinese calligraphy handwriting on it, which reads 崇祖惇宗 (숭조돈종, "respect the ancestor and harmony with the clan"), but the plaque went missing during the Korean War. On 27 November 1955, the year when Yi Kang passed away, the members of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association held a ceremony in the hall of Whimoon Middle School in Seoul, to be officially registered as a legal organization on 3 April 1957. The Association's headquarters are in the Lee Hwa Building (이화회관 [李花會館], "Plum Blossom Hall"), located in Jongno District of Seoul, on the street leading to the main gate of Changdeokgung. (p. 41, 43)

In addition to domestic offices, the association has several international branches, including seven offices in North America and one in Japan.

Organization According to the statistics in 1995, there were 2.8 million people coming from the Jeonju Yi clan in South Korea, making up over 770 thousand Yi families, 230 thousand families from whom lived in Seoul. Among them, there were nationwide 44% population from the clan (330 thousand families) that are registered members of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association; in Seoul, similarly, there were specifically 39% (90 thousand families) of the clan that were registered.

Within the association, there is a chairman, as the superior over vice-chairmen, supervisors, and members of the council; they are often family members with prominent figures in politics and/or economics. As various ways to support members from the clan, there are several sub-organizations, including one that can offer scholarship, committees for academics and art, as well as ones dedicated to ancestral worship activities. Based on different genealogy among family members, 83 groups of the member can be classified; based on the places of residence, there are 15 sub-associations and 225 offices set, and there are also, for further district subdivision, branches in smaller administrative units (myeon, eup, and dong). As to overseas sub-associations, there are ones in Japan (Kantō and Kansai offices) and the United States (including Chicago and Los Angeles offices). +Statistics for the offices of the association (1995)Location No. of officesSeoul22Busan12Daegu7Incheon6Daejeon5Gyeonggi Province29Gangwon Province18North Chungcheong Province12South Chungcheong Province16North Jeolla Province18South Jeolla Province25North Gyeongsang Province23South Gyeongsang Province25Jeju Province3Japan2United States2Total225

List of directors Directors (총재) of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family AssociationPortraitTitleNameIn office sinceBirth and deathNotesKoreanEnglish1의친왕義親王Prince Imperial UiYi Kang19221877–1955 5th son of Gojong of Korea Made Prince Uihwa in 1891 Becoming Prince Imperial Ui in 19002영친왕英親王Prince Imperial YeongYi Un29 July 19661897–1970 7th son of Gojong of Korea Becoming Prince Imperial Yeong in 1900 Appointed by Emperor Sunjong of Korea as the Imperial Crown Prince in 1907After Korean Empire being abolished (1910) and the foundation of the Republic of Korea (1948), the titles ever since are of pretence and for courtesy within the association.Article 11, Section 2: "No privileged caste shall be recognized or ever established in any form."3황세손皇世孫Imperial Crown PrinceYi Ku20 March 19731931–2005 2nd son of Yi Un Born as the Crown Prince of King Yi4황사손皇嗣孫Hereditary Prince ImperialYi Won27 June 2007born 1961 Great-grandson of Gojong of Korea Heir to Yi Ku Grandson of Yi Kang and the eldest son of Yi Gap (9th son of Yi Kang) Later going by the style Hereditary Prince Imperial (황사손) only instead of the director

List of chairmen of the association Chairmen (이사장) of the Jeonju Lee Royal Family AssociationNameTenureFrom the cadet branchBirth and deathRef(s)KoreanEnglish1이범승李範昇Lee Beom-seung7 November 1955 – 9 February 1958Grand Prince Gwangpyeong17th generation1887–19762리기붕李起鵬Lee Ki-poong10 February 1958 – 3 April 1959Grand Prince Hyoryeong17th generation1896–19603이세정李世楨Yi Se-jeong25 December 1962 – 4 March 1970Prince Ikyang15th generation1895–1972456이건웅李建雄Yi Geon-ung20 March 1970 – 20 September 1970(acting)Prince Deokcheon15th generationborn 19417이수길李壽吉Yi Su-gil12 February 1971 – 12 May 1974Grand Prince Inpyeong10th generation1917–19828이봉우李鳳宇Yi Bong-u15 April 1975 － 12 May 1977Grand Prince Hyoryeong15th generation9이재형李載灐Lee Choi-hyung13 May 1977 – 30 January 1992Prince Inseong10th generation1914–199210111213이범준李範俊Rhee Bomb-june1 February 1992 – 20 September 1996Grand Prince Gwangpyeong17th generation1928–20071415이환의李桓儀Lee Hwan-ey31 September 1996 – 3 January 2012Grand Prince Hyoryeong16th generationborn 1931161718192021이태섭李台燮Lee Tae-sup4 January 2012 – 17 December 2019Prince Deokyang14th generationborn 193922232425이귀남李貴男Lee Gwi-nam18 December 2019 – presentPrince Hoesan17th generationborn 19512627

Jeonju Lee Royal Family Association

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