Yi Seok (), anglicized as Paul Samuel Harrison Lee; born 3 August 1941, is a South Korean entrepreneur. He is a member of the House of Yi, the royal house of Joseon and Korean Empire. He is the 10th son of Prince Yi Kang, the fifth son of Emperor Gojong, and one of his concubines, Lady Hong Chŏng-sun.
Yi promotes the creation of a constitutional monarchy alongside the existing presidential system. In August 2006, Yi founded the Imperial Cultural Foundation of Korea () to support this proposal. In his early life, he gained fame as a singer and he released a 1967 album Pigeon House. Since 2004, he has been employed by the city of Jeonju to promote tourism. He also serves as a professor of history at Jeonju University. Yi's guesthouse in the Jeonju Hanok Village has been visited by Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in.
Early life
thumb|left|130px|Sadong Palace in 1937
Yi was born Yi Hae-seok () on 30 August 1941.
The family lost Sadong Palace after 1945. The subsequent rise of the First Republic of Korea also resulted in the confiscation of many of the family's other properties. After the outbreak of the Korean War, Yi and his family fled from their residence in Samcheong-dong and were reduced to poverty. In 1967, he recorded the album Pigeon House.' Later, Yi volunteered for the Korean military and served as an enlisted man in the Vietnam War. In the 1980s he moved to the United States as an illegal immigrant, doing jobs including lawn mowing and cleaning swimming pools and buildings.
thumb|Yi holding a [[Korean Jindo|Jindo puppy at the entrance of Seunggwangjae in 2021]]
In August 2004, Yi started running and living in a guesthouse Seunggwangjae in Jeonju Hanok Village. Seunggwangjae is sometimes rented by the government of Jeonju and it was built of wood, similar to the traditional way. He said, "There are many things to do in Jeonju since this is where the Joseon dynasty founded. I'm going to spread the culture of the royal family and re-illuminate Jeonju's history." During the funeral, an angered Yi Seok commented that "the funeral is not yet ended, and it's inappropriate to discuss about adopting an heir by now".
Yi supports the creation of a constitutional monarchy for the symbolic value of having an Imperial Family. [...] For 100 years, the royalty has been absent, yet the five grand palaces are still there, and the descendants of the royalty should be the ones who live inside symbolically.
| source= Interview with the JoongAng Ilbo, 17 August 2016
|author=Yi
To this end, in August 2006, he became the founding leader of the Imperial Culture Foundation of Korea (). According to a talk on 4 September 2014, Yi said that there is no existing contemporary portrait of Sejong the Great. The statue's face was based on that of Yi and a portrait of Grand Prince Hyoryeong, King Sejong's older brother, which is now preserved at Gwanaksan.
Yi also serves as a professor of history at Jeonju University.
On 7 August 2018, Harry B. Harris Jr., the United States Ambassador to South Korea, paid a visit to Seunggwangjae.
thumb|Yi reciprocating a [[kowtow to some guests]]
On 6 October 2018, Yi declared Andrew Lee, a distant Korean-American relative and an entrepreneur, to be the "Korean Crown Prince".
Personal life
Yi married and divorced four times. He is now married to a woman said to be 18 years his junior.