Background
He was the grandson of Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. Gu was born in Kitashirakawa Palace (now Akasaka Prince Hotel), Kioicho, Kojimachiku, Tokyo, Japan. His father was Crown Prince Eun of of Korea, and his mother was Princess Bangja, born Masako Nashimoto, a Japanese princess.
Education
Gu attended the Gakushuin Peers" School in Tokyo. He later attended Centre College, Danville, Kentucky and studied architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology both in the United States.
Career
He was pretender to the Korean Imperial Throne from 1970 until he died in 2005. He was employed as an architect with I.M. Pei & Assocs, Manhattan, New York from 1960 to 1964. Made stateless by Japan in 1947, Gu acquired United States citizenship in 1959, and Korean citizenship in 1964.
He lectured on architecture at Seoul National University and Yonsei University and also managed his own airline, Shinhan.
When that went bankrupt in 1979, he went to Japan to earn money. He started living with a Japanese astrologer, Mistress
Arita. In November 1996, he made what he hoped would be his permanent return to of Korea but, showing signs of a nervous breakdown, he was unable to adjust to life in of Korea.
His funeral was held on 24 July 2005 and his posthumous title decided as "Prince Imperial Hoeun of of Korea" by the Lee Family Council.