The Saffron Autumn

Completely randomly

Many Indians seem to feel that Pakistanis are underestimating the broader issues of nationhood and precedence which make India prefer a long running bloody conflict in Kashmir to allowing it to separate from India. I`m thinking that we also underestimate the broader issues behind Pakistan being very unwilling to give up on Kashmir. Would a Pakistani care to confirm/deny/correct me on this? Regards

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Hey 12-Head. You were complaining somewhere about the Indian government not recognizing Tipu`s heirs. Well, I thought I would add to your list of complaints about non-recognition of former dynasties. You might already be aware of the trials and tribulations of the descendants of the various kings of France, Bulgaria, Austria (Austro-Hungarian empire), Romania, Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia, Russia, China, Egypt, Iraq and Iran. Here is another dynasty whose fall you can lament:


Korean prince leading vagabond`s existence, hoping for royal respect
BY SANG-HUN CHOE
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea - One of Korea`s last princes lives out of a two-seat van packed with books, laundry and an electric range. He used to sing at nightclubs for American GIs and sleeps in flophouses.

Yet he`s so proud of his blood line that he never sheds his clothes in a public bathhouse when others are around.

Now Yi Seok, 62, has launched a one-man crusade to restore the lost dignity of his disgraced Yi Dynasty family, which ruled the Korean Peninsula for 518 years until colonial Japan took over in 1910.

``If I die, there will be no one left to tell the stories of the last royal family,`` Yi says.

South Korea is proud of its heritage, which includes the invention of the Korean alphabet during the Yi Dynasty. Historical dramas about romance and bloody coups at the ancient royal court are a TV staple. At royal palaces in Seoul, tourists watch a changing of the royal guard and hear court-music performances.

LOST TO HISTORY

But few in South Korea know the names or whereabouts of relatives of the Yi Dynasty`s last king.

Koreans accuse the dynasty`s last rulers of incompetence and blame them for Korea`s humiliating 35-year subjugation to Japanese rule.

``I am aware of the criticism,`` Yi Seok says. ``But with all its achievements and failures, the royal family deserves better treatment.``

Although a few hard-core supporters demand that South Korea switch to a monarchy, Yi considers such demands unrealistic. Instead, he believes the government should let him live in a palace, ``at least as a tourist attraction.``

The government is not considering Yi`s request, citing public skepticism.

Yi Seok also wants to build a museum where people can learn about the royal court.

Four years ago, he established a ``National Federation for Preserving the Great Korean Royal Court`` -- an organization operating mainly out of his van. He runs a website and claims thousands of members who are asked to pay the equivalent of 83 cents a month.

A member recently wrote: ``Your Highness, I have always wondered about you. . . . Now that I know you are alive, I am brimming with tears of happiness.``

``Some people call me crying,`` Yi says. ``An 80-year-old man called me the other day, offering to come up to Seoul just to bow before me.``

Most are unaware of Yi`s campaign.

``I both feel sympathy and anger at the last king and his family,`` said Kim Jae-chun, a taxi driver. ``I understand why people do not want to think about the subject. It`s embarrassing history.``

The Yi Dynasty crumbled during the reign of Yi Seok`s grandfather, King Ko Jong, when great nations jockeyed for control of Korea. Rival court factions shifted to Chinese, Russian and Japanese forces and the intrigue led to the assassination of the queen by Japanese troops.

Of Ko Jong`s dozens of grandchildren, Yi Seok is the only grandson living in South Korea. All his elder brothers are dead. Two younger brothers run auto repair and liquor shops in the United States. He also has two sisters in the United States and three in South Korea.

President Syngman Rhee, who founded South Korea in 1948 after Korea`s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, let Lee Seok`s family live in one of the several royal palaces in Seoul, but confiscated its vast assets.

When the military rulers in the 1960s deprived Yi`s family of financial allowances, he worked as a disk jockey. In 1962, he began singing at night clubs, entertaining American GIs with such songs as I Left My Heart In San Francisco.

EARNING HIS KEEP

``I sang at every U.S. military base in South Korea. I was a cross between Andy Williams and Pat Boone,`` he says. `An aunt learned about this and she wept and lamented that a Korean prince became a `clown,` but I had to make a living.``

Yi Seok enjoyed national fame with a 1970s hit, A House of Doves, a melodic song about a happy family. But he was forced to emigrate to the United States when Maj. Gen. Chun Doo-hwan took power in a coup in 1979 and evicted Yi`s family from the royal palace.

Overstaying his American visa, Yi mowed lawns, cleaned swimming pools and worked as an armed guard in a liquor store in the Los Angeles area. After securing a green card, he ran his own liquor store.

He returned home in 1989.

Recently a sympathetic landlord let Yi Seok temporarily use a small office. Scattered about are unpacked boxes. Downstairs, music throbs from the ``Don`t Tell Mama`` night club.

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Ref Paigham #36

[But then hypocrite ,unfair & prejudiced Hindians (Hindutva Indians)have no problem preserving Karan Sing of the Gulab Singh dynasty because of Kashmir .Doesn`t it .?]

So, tell us exactly what the Indian government has done to PRESERVE Karan Singh? He lost his Privy Purse along with the 550+ other Rajas back in the late 60s. If he continues to live, should the Government of India kill him?

What a pinhead!

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