Sunjong, 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 the throne after his predecessor and father, Gojong, was forced to abdicate by the Empire of Japan. Hence, Sunjong has been characterized by historians as being a powerless puppet ruler of the Japanese, reigning for just three years before Korea was officially annexed in 1910.
Sunjong
Emperor, Queen and Yi On, the Crown Prince but not the child of the Emperor. The Emperor and his second wife. Image collected in the United States.
Emperor Gojong and the Crown Prince Sunjong
Sunjong wearing Court uniform and dress of the Korean Empire
The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire stood until Japan's annexation of Korea in August 1910.
Hwangudan in 1906
State funeral of Min Young-hwan who committed suicide in protest of the Eulsa Treaty
Soldiers of the Korean Imperial Army, 1898
KIS Yangmu, the first naval ship of the Imperial Korean Navy