Pak Jae-gyong (; born 10 June 1933) 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n politician and soldier. A general in the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...

(KPA), Pak is a Vice Minister in the

Ministry of People's Armed Forces The Ministry of Defence (, formerly 인민무력성/人民武力省 or Ministry of the People's Armed Forces) is the government agency tasked with general administrative and logistical coordination of the Korean People's Army (KPA). Prior to 1992, ...

as well as a member of the

Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea ( ko, 조선로동당 중앙위원회) is the highest party body between national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. According to WPK rules, the ...

(WPK). Pak is also a delegate of the

12th Supreme People's Assembly Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 8 March 2009 to elect the members of the 12th Supreme People's Assembly. They were originally scheduled to be held in August 2008 but were postponed for unknown reasons. Observers of North Kore ...

(SPA). He was one of 31 commandos sent to assassinate

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n president

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

in the Blue House raid in 1968, and one of two survivors.

Early life and education

Pak was born in

North Hamgyong Province North Hamgyong Province (Hamgyŏngbukdo, ) is the northernmost province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Hamgyong Province. Geography The province is bordered by China (Jilin) on the north, S ...

while Korea was under Japanese rule and attended the Kim Il-Sung Political and Military College.

Blue House raid

Pak was one of thirty-one men handpicked for the 1968 Blue House raid (also known as the January 21 Incident in South Korea), an assassination attempt on the life of South Korean President

. Pak was one of only two survivors of the failed mission, the other being

Kim Shin-jo Kim Shin-jo (born June 2, 1942) is one of two survivors of the 31-person team of North Korean commandos sent to assassinate the then-president of South Korea, Park Chung-hee, in the Blue House raid in January 1968. The only other survivor, Pak ...

, and was the only one to return to the North.

Military and political career

In February 1985, he assumed the role of brigadier general of the

(KPA), and was made Head of the Propaganda Department of the

General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army The General Political Bureau (GPB) is the internal politburo of the Korean People's Army (KPA), used by the leadership of the North Korean government to exert political control over the military. The GPB is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence an ...

. In 1989, Pak took on the role of political commissar of the 4th Corps of the KPA, and in January 1993 was promoted to major general. Through the December by-elections of the same year, Pak was elected as an official of the

(WPK). In June 1994, Pak was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. In September of the same year, he was appointed General Director of the Propaganda Department under the

General Political Bureau The General Political Bureau (GPB) is the internal politburo of the Korean People's Army (KPA), used by the leadership of the North Korean government to exert political control over the military. The GPB is subordinate to the Ministry of Defence ...

. In August 1995 he was re-elected as an official of the Central Committee of the WPK. Pak was promoted to general of the KPA in February 1997. In September 2000, Pak Jae-gyong accompanied

Kim Yong-sun Kim Yong-sun (1934 – 26 October 2003) was a North Korean politician. At the time of his death, he was vice-chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland. He was reported to have been killed in a car accident. He a ...

, the then vice-chairman of the

Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland The Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK) is a North Korean state agency aimed at promoting Korean reunification. Overview The CPRK was not a governmental body per se but rather an offshoot of the Korean Workers' Party's Unit ...

, on his trip to South Korea at the invitation of

Kim Dae-jung Kim Dae-jung (; ; 6 January 192418 August 2009), was a South Korea, South Korean politician and activist who served as the eighth president of South Korea from 1998 to 2003. He was a 2000 Nobel Peace Prize recipient for his work for democra ...

. Pak presented three tons of the famous Chilbo Mountain pine mushrooms as a present from

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

. In 2007, Pak delivered another gift of pine mushrooms, this time weighing four tons, when he called on President

Roh Moo-hyun Roh Moo-hyun (; ; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008. Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for ...

. It is speculated that the choice of Pak was in part due to his involvement in the Blue House raid, and that sending him was a way of mocking the South. From 2007 onwards, Pak has been a Vice Minister in the

and in September 2010 was appointed a member of the

Central Committee of the WPK The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea ( ko, 조선로동당 중앙위원회) is the highest party body between national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. According to WPK rules, the ...

. Pak served as a delegate of the

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...

and 11th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) and since April 2009 has been a delegate of the 12th SPA. Over the years, Pak has been a member of the State Funeral Committee for the deaths of

Kim Il-sung Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...

O Jin-u O Jin-u (March 8, 1917 – February 25, 1995) was a North Korean general and politician. He served with Kim Il-sung's partisan unit and eventually rose through the ranks of the North Korean Army. He distinguished himself during the Korean War an ...

Yon Hyong-muk Yon Hyong-muk, also spelt Yong Hyong-muk (November 3, 1931 – October 22, 2005), was a long-serving politician in North Korea and at the height of his career the most powerful person in that country outside the Kim family. He was Prime Minister ...

Pak Song-chol Pak Song-chol or Park Sung-chul (2 September 1913 – 28 October 2008) 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. Biogra ...

Jo Myong-rok Jo Myong-lok (12 July 1928 – 6 November 2010) was a North Korean military officer who held the military rank Chasu (Vice Marshal). In 1998, he was appointed First Vice-Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, Director ...

and

Awards and honors

A picture of Pak shows Pak wearing the ribbons to all decorations awarded to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, Jae-gyong 1933 births Living people People from North Hamgyong Government ministers of North Korea North Korean generals Members of the Supreme People's Assembly Workers' Party of Korea politicians

Early life and education

Blue House raid

Military and political career

Awards and honors

See also

References