Yi Wijong

In this Korean name, the family name is Yi.

Yi Ouitjyong
Yi Chun, Yi Sangsŏl and Yi Wijong (Hague Secret Emissary Affair)
Born	1884 or 1887 Seoul, Joseon
Died	1924(?)
Allegiance	Russian Empire (1911–1917) Russian SFSR (1918–1922)
Branch	Imperial Russian Army Red Army
Years of service	1911–1922
Rank	Podporuchik
Battles / wars	World War I Eastern Front Russian Civil War
Awards	Order of Merit for National Foundation (1962)
Korean name
Hangul	이위종
Hanja	李瑋鍾
RR	I Wijong
MR	I Wijong

Yi Wijong (Korean: 이위종; 1884–1924(?)), name sometimes rendered as Yi Ouitjyong, was a Korean diplomat and military officer. His name in Russian is Vladimir Sergeyevich Li (Владимир Сергеевич Ли). Yi took part in World War I as a 2nd lieutenant (Podporuchik) of Imperial Russian Army and served on Eastern Front. Post-WWI, Yi joined the Bolsheviks and fought in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.

Life

Yi was born in 1884. In 1907 he, Yi Chun, and Yi Sangsŏl were delegated by Emperor Gojong to attend the Second Hague Peace Conference at The Hague. At that time, he was proficient in seven languages. However, they were barred from joining the conference due to the Imperial Japan's objections as the supreme Asian power of the time. However, with the assistance of the Journalists Association, Yi was able to present speech in English to 150 journalists at The Hague concerning Japan's invasions of Korea and its void legality. Ouitjyong Yi buried Yi Chun at The Hague and went to the United States with Yi Sangsŏl, and from there to Vladivostok and Saint Petersburg.

In 1911, after his father killed himself, he became a military officer of the Imperial Russian Army and participated in World War I. After the outbreak of the October Revolution and signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Yi joined the Bolsheviks and fought in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. In the process, he cut off all communication with his erstwhile aristocratic wife and his family members. He fought in battle around Irkutsk against Alexander Kolchak's White Army. After the war, he served as an apparatchik in Krasnoyarsk and Chita until 1924. Not much is known of Yi's life after 1924.

Family

His father Yi Pŏmjin was a Korean politician and diplomat. He married a Russian noble, Elizabeta Noelke (1888–1942), in 1906. The couple had three daughters; Vera (1906–1920), Nyna (1909–1940), Zena (1912- ?). Their descendants still live in Russia.

See also

• Greater Korean Empire