Early life

Sunjeonghyo was born Yun Jeung-sun (윤증순; 尹曾順) on 19 September 1894 in Seoul. She was born to Lady Yu of the Gigye Yu clan and Yun Taek-yeong, a member of the Haepyeong Yun clan and an official of Joseon.^[2] Her paternal grandmother, Lady Hong, was a 5th great-granddaughter of Princess Jeongmyeong, daughter of Seonjo of Joseon and Queen Inmok. Lady Hong was also a third cousin twice removed of Lady Hyegyeong.^[3]

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, the 2nd President of South Korea, was her ninth cousin three times removed.^[4] On her mother’s side, Yun’s maternal grandfather, Yu Jin-hak, was a maternal adoptive nephew of Queen Sinjeong; thus making her the adoptive great-grandniece of the late Queen.^[5]

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.^[6]

Prior to the marriage, the Imo Incident of 1882 had forced Empress Myeongseong 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 (seung-eun) 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" (경흥부부인 기계 유씨; 慶興府夫人 杞溪 兪氏) while her father was given the royal title of "Internal Prince Haepung Yun Taek-yeong" (해풍부원군 윤택영; 海豊府院君 尹澤榮).

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. 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 (윤비; 尹妃) and lived at Daejojeon Hall. But when she was given the royal title of Queen Yi of Changdeok Palace (창덕궁 이왕비; 昌德宮 李王妃), 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 Changdeok Palace in Seoul. Emperor Yunghui had been rendered infertile (and was also said to be mentally disabled) by poisoning in the 1898 Coffee Poisoning Plot.^[7][8]

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. But her uncle, Yun Deok-yeong, opposed such a thing to happen and maintained their Korean surname.

Korean War

During the Korean War, 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 Unhyeon Palace when the war situation became too serious. As the war progressed, she moved to Busan 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

Queen Yun Returning to the Palace.

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 Changdeok Palace. She was kept imprisoned in Suin Hall, a narrow and unsuitable cottage in Jeongneung, Seoul. After a change in government in 1961 she returned to Nakseon Hall, Changdeok Palace 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.

The Yureung Imperial Tomb where Emperor Sunjong and Empresses Sunmyeong and Sunjeong are buried. This is an exceptional case where three persons are buried in the same mound, known as hapjangneung (合葬陵)

Empress Sunjeonghyo became a Buddhist in her later years. She died childless on 3 February 1966, aged 72, at Nakseon Hall, Changdeok Palace, Seoul from a heart attack. She was given a state funeral and a private Buddhist funeral. She is buried beside her husband, Emperor Yunghui and his first wife, Empress Sunmyeong, at the Yureung Imperial Tomb.

Notes

References