The Last Princess, Deokhye

The Last Princess, Deokhye

 

 

The life of Princess Deokhye (pronounced Duck-hey) reflects the tragedy that Japanese colonization of the Korean Peninsula (1910-1945) inflicted on the lives of Koreans. Deokhye was born on May 25, 1912, to the 26th and second last king of Josun Dynasty, King Gojong. Gojong was sixty years old when he begot Deokhye. He had had four daughters in total, but all of them died before reaching their first birthdays. Therefore, Deokhye was basically the only daughter of Gojong and was much beloved. In fact, Gojong built a preschool just for Deokhye in Joonmyung-dang, a building within Deoksu Palace.

 

 

Joonmyung-dang

  

Bases for palace buildings are usually high. Gojong was afraid that Deokhye might fall from the bases and hurt herself, so he built separate railings around Joonmyung-dang. The photo shows holes on the ground, which mark the place where the railings once stood.

 

 photo of Gojong and his funeral

 

 

Photo of Hamnyeong-jun, where Gojong died

 

After Gojong’s death in March of 1925, the Japanese Government General of Korea asserted that Deokhye must be educated in Japan. Regardless of Deokhye’s will, the princess was sent to Tokyo, Japan. She was sent to an all-girls’ school in Aoyama. It is said that Deokhye was always reticent and did not get along with her classmates. 

 

Deokhye wed So Takeyuki, a Japanese nobleman, under a marriage arranged by Japan, in May of 1931. But Deokhye’s early dementia, which she had before marriage, deteriorated upon marriage. She came to be institutionalized. Her marriage life started to crumble and she divorced her husband in 1955.

 

Deokhye yearned to return to Korea but this wish was hard to fulfill. It was only in 1962 that Deokhye settled back in Korea. But she suffered from language disorders and chronic ailments before she passed away in April of 1989. She was seventy-seven years old at the time.

 

 

Photo of current Soogang-jae in Changdeok-Palace.

Deokhye lived here upon her return to Korea in 1962 until her death in 1989

 

I personally think that Deokhye’s mental illness was derived from the tragedy of losing her motherland to a foreign power, being expatriated to Japan, being compelled to marry a Japanese man, being unable to attend the state funeral of her own family, and being divested of basic liberty in so many ways. It seems that Deokhye’s mental illness stems from the dismal psychological effects from Japanese annexation of Korea.

 

There was a musical this spring, entitled “Princess Deokhye.” In addition, a TV series based on the life of Deokhye will be aired this summer. I hope that the adaptation of Deokhye in modern culture will help more people remember the princess.

본 글은 한걸음 기자단 개인의 의견으로 대한민국역사박물관의 편집 의도와 다를 수 있습니다