Pak Kil-yon ( or ; born 1943) is a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

n diplomat. He served as

Permanent Representative to the United Nations A permanent representative to the United Nations (sometimes called a "UN ambassador")"History of Ambassadors", United States Mission to the United Nations, March 2011, webpagUSUN-a. is the head of a country's diplomatic mission to the United Nat ...

from 2001 to 2008.

Early life and career

Pak was born in 1943 in

Chagang Chagang Province (Chagangdo; ) is a province in North Korea; it is bordered by China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces to the north, Ryanggang and South Hamgyong to the east, South Pyongan to the south, and North Pyongan to the west. Chagang was ...

. He is a graduate of Pyongyang University of International Affairs. Pak He has served in the North Korean diplomatic corps since 1969, when he was Consul to the embassy in

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

. He subsequently served in Singapore, and then domestically as the director-general of the American Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Thereafter he was named chief representative for the North Korean UN mission in 1985. He subsequently served as ambassador to countries including Colombia and

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...

, before taking his present post. Pak has been a delegate to the 8th, 9th and 11th sessions of the Supreme People's Assembly. He was awarded the

Order of Kim Il-sung The Order of Kim Il-sung () is the highest order of North Korea, along with the Order of Kim Jong-il, and only second to one honorary title, the Hero of Labour. The order, named after the country's first leader Kim Il-sung, was instituted in 1 ...

in 1992.

Representative to the United Nations

Pak was the ambassador to the United Nations for North Korea from 2001 to 2008. During this time, he has called for the UN to prevent Japan from obtaining a permanent seat on the

Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

. On May 13, 2005, he met with Joseph DeTrani, a special envoy for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, to discuss a North Korean return to the "

six-party talks The six-party talks aimed to find a peaceful resolution to the security concerns as a result of the North Korean nuclear weapons program. There was a series of meetings with six participating states in Beijing: * China * Japan * North Korea ...

" on North Korean nuclear proliferation. This meeting was the first between US and North Korean officials in six months. He is known sarcastically by diplomats as 'Dr. Chuckles' because of his rhetoric. Following the

2006 North Korean nuclear test The 2006 North Korean nuclear test was the detonation of a nuclear device conducted by North Korea on October 9, 2006. On October 3, 2006, North Korea announced its intention to conduct a nuclear test. The blast is generally estimated to have h ...

, Pak made headlines when he said that the United Nations should "congratulate" his country's scientists and researchers on their achievement, instead of issuing what he called "notorious, useless and reckless resolutions." Following the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

's imposition of sanctions on North Korea, Pak called the Council's actions "gangster-like" and stormed out of the chamber. This led to then-

U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is formally known as the permanent representative of the United States of America to the United Nations ...

John R. Bolton John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Stat ...

replying that that action was the equivalent of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

pounding his shoe at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

in 1960.North Korea Claims International Community has Declared War
. ''

Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...

''. October 16, 2006.

References

} {{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, Kil-yon North Korean diplomats Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Living people 1943 births People from Chagang Permanent Representatives of North Korea to the United Nations Recipients of the Order of Kim Il-sung

Early life and career

Representative to the United Nations

See also

References