Pak Song-chol
Pak in 1973
First Vice President of North Korea
In office
15 December 1977 – 5 September 1998
PresidentKim Il Sung
3rd Premier of North Korea
In office
19 April 1976 – 16 December 1977
PresidentKim Il Sung
Preceded byKim Il
Succeeded byRi Jong-ok
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
23 October 1959 – 1 July 1970
PremierKim Il Sung
Preceded byNam Il
Succeeded byHo Dam
Personal details
Born(1913-09-02)2 September 1913
Keishū, Keishōhoku-dō, Korea, (today Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea)
Died28 October 2008(2008-10-28) (aged 95)
Pyongyang, North Korea
NationalityNorth Korean
Political partyWorkers' Party of Korea
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl
박성철
Hancha
Revised RomanizationBak Seong-cheol
McCune–ReischauerPak Sŏngch'ŏl

Pak Song-chol or Park Sung-chul (Korean: 박성철; 2 September 1913[1] – 28 October 2008)[2] was a North Korean politician who served as Premier of North Korea from 1976 to 1977. He succeeded Kim Il. He also served as foreign minister from 1959 to 1970.

Biography

Pak Song-Chol was born in Keishū, Keishō-hoku Prefecture (today North Gyeongsang Province) during the Japanese colonial period. He attended and dropped out of Sophia University in Japan. While studying abroad, he joined the Japanese Communist Party. Pak participated in Anti-Japan Partisan in Manchukuo in April 1934. In 1936, he was a youth member of the 1st corps of the 5th Army of the Tohoku Anti-Japanese Union. During this period, he was described as an extremely loyal and courageous youth member. In 1937, the second army 4th teacher 1st group. 1942, 1st platoon, 1st battalion, 1st battalion, 88th independent sniper brigade where he met Kim Il Sung. He's the father of Pak Chun Bo, who had learned together with Kim Il Sung's son Kim Jong Il.

In the spring of 1942, as a Soviet military reconnaissance officer, he was given the task of following the deployment situation of Japanese troops at the border.[3] It should be a mission that ends in a week, but he did not return until autumn, during which he sent important information over radio signals.

North Korea

In 1948 he was the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Division of the Korean People's Army (Colonel) . In 1950, he became the 15th division Commander and participated in the Korean War. In September 1953 he was appointed Director of the Ministry of National Guard and Scouting. After that, he moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and from August 1954, he served as an envoy to the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and in May 1955 the ambassador. August 1956, International Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, Deputy Foreign Minister since October of the same year, and Foreign Minister in October 1959, until he retired in July 1970. During this time, in 1966 he also served as the Deputy Premier in the Cabinet of North Korea.

In 1972, as deputy premier, he secretly visited Seoul in the lead-up to the Joint Statement on reunification.[4]

He was appointed Vice President by the Supreme People's Assembly in December 1977 and he left the office in October 1997.[5][6] His last public appearance was in September 2003 in the viewing box at the 55th-anniversary commemoration inspection ceremonies in North Korea. He was one of the oldest former heads of government in the world.

Death and funeral

Pak died on 28 October 2008. A funeral committee was appointed with Kim Yong-nam as the chairman.[7][8]

Works

  • Pak Sung-chul (1970). "Speech by Comrade Pak Sung Chul [Speeches at the Peking Rally Commemorating the Twentieth Anniversary of the Fatherland Liberation War of Korea and Condemning U.S. Imperialism for Forcibly Occupying China's Taiwan (June 25, 1970)]". People of Asia: Unite and Drive the U.S. Agressors Out of Asia!. Peking: Foreign Languages Press. OCLC 204899.
  • — (1977). "As He Leads The Revolution". As He Leads the Revolution, for the Freedom and Liberation of the People. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. OCLC 6198041.
  • — (1977). "Congratulory Speech". The International Seminar on the Juche Idea: September, 1977, Pyongyang. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. pp. 13–26. OCLC 70308637.
  • — (September 1988). "The Republic Is a Great Revolutionary Achievement Obtained Through the Long and Arduous Struggle Under the Leadership of the Respected and Beloved Comrade Kim Il-song" (PDF). Kulloja (9). OCLC 9516938. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  • Kim Il; Choe Hyon; Pak Sung-chul; et al. (1982). Twenty-year-long Anti-Japanese Revolution Under the Red Sunrays: September 1931 – February 1936. Vol. 2. Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House. OCLC 914716941.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sorry Page". Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2008.
  2. ↑ "DPRK senior official dies". Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  3. ↑ “6ㆍ25때 북한군 작전국장/유성철 “나의 증언”:3” (朝鮮語). 韓国日報. (1990年11月3日
  4. ↑ Oberdorfer, Don; Carlin, Robert (2014). The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History. Basic Books. p. 19. ISBN 9780465031238.
  5. ↑ Banks, Arthur S.; Day, Alan J.; Muller, Thomas C. (February 2016). Political Handbook of the World 1998. Springer. ISBN 9781349149513.
  6. ↑ Chiefs of State and Cabinet members of foreign governments / National Foreign Assessment Center. Dec 1996-Feb 1997. 2003. hdl:2027/uc1.c054551470.
  7. ↑ "Pak Song Chol Dies". KCNA. 29 October 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014.
  8. ↑ 고 박성철의 장의위원회를 구성 (in Korean). KCNA. 30 October 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014.
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