October 20, 2013
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Prince Imperial Yeong, the Crown Prince Uimin (also Euimin), also known as Yi Un, Yi Eun, Lee Eun, and Un Yi (20 October 1897 – 1 May 1970), was the 28th Head of Korean Imperial House, and the last crown prince of Korea.

The prince was born on 20 October 1897 at Deoksu Palace in Seoul as the seventh son of Gojong, the Gwangmu Emperor and his second wife, Honorable Princess Consort Eom Seon-yeong, who held the posthumous title of Princess Sunheon. He was also the younger half - brother by a different mother of Emperor Sunjong and Prince Imperial Ui. He was titled Prince Imperial Yeong in 1900, and became the crown prince in 1907, despite being younger than Prince Ui. Prince Ui's influence to the throne was not strong because his own mother, Lady Jang, had already died.

In December 1907, he was taken to Japan on the pretext of his studies and he married Princess Masako of Nashimoto (born 4 November 1901 – 30 April 1989 (aged 87)), the eldest daughter of Prince Nashimoto Morimasa, on 28 April 1920 at Tokyo. In 1910, when Emperor Sunjong was forced to abdicate by Japan, he was titled His Royal Highness Crown Prince of Korea. On 24 April 1926, he became King Ri of Korea (demoted Korean sovereign's title after the Japan - Korean Annexation Treaty) when Emperor Sunjong died.

Prince Yi Eun (also known as Prince Ri Gin in Japan) served in the Japanese Army as Commanding Officer of the 59th Regiment, the 4th Depot Division, and then later the 51st Division. He also served in the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force with the rank of general, commanding IJA 1st Air Army. He further served as Instructor at Military Staff College, attached to the Inspectorate General of Military Training and became a Member of the Supreme War Council during wartime.

After Korea became independent of the Empire of Japan in 1945, he requested permission from President Syngman Rhee to be allowed to return to Korea with his family, but was refused. The prince was offered the position of Korean Ambassador to the Court of St. James's in 1960, but refused on the grounds of ill health. In November 1963, (with request from President Park Chung-hee) he and his wife, Crown Princess Bangja, came back to Korea for the first time in 56 years but the prince was already unconscious from cerebral thrombosis and was rushed from the airport to Seoul Sungmo Hospital, and remained bedridden for the rest of his life.

In his final years, he lived at Nakseon Hall, Changdeokgung Palace, the former residence of Imperial house in Seoul with Bangja and his younger sister Princess Deokhye. Seven years after returning to his country, he died on 1 May 1970 at Nakseon Hall, Changdeok Palace, Seoul. He was buried at Hongyureung in Namyangju, near Seoul and is known posthumously as Crown Prince Euimin of Korea.