Pak Yong-sun (19 October 1905 – 18 August 1987) was a North Korean guerilla fighter, and later a politician after

liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

, being a deputy to the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year ...

and 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 ...

Early life

Pak Yong-sun was in Kyongwon, in North Hamgyong Province in either 19 October 1905 or 1909. He completed primary school by 1919, and was subsequently sent to work in

Kaolin Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...

mines near

Hoeryong Hoeryŏng () is a city in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. It is located opposite Jilin Province, China, with the Tumen River in between. Sanhe (三合鎮), in Longjing City, is the closest Chinese town across the river. Hoeryŏng is the bir ...

by 1924. In 1927, he entered joined Anti-Japanese movements, for which he was imprisoned in 1930. After being released around or before 1933, he moved to

Jiandao Jiandao or Chientao, known in Korean as Gando or Kando, is a historical border region along the north bank of the Tumen River in Jilin Province, Northeast China that has a high population of ethnic Koreans. The word "Jiandao" itself, literall ...

, and started producing weaponry for the anti-Japanese movements. According to his recollections, he first met

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 ...

around this time, in November 1932 while he was in a secret munitions workshop, who encouraged him to further the process of constructing weaponry. As a result, he became a member of the guerilla unit in the Yanji area under Kim Il Sung from 1934. He operated a secret camp from 1936 in Musong-hyon to support the rear of the guerilla effort. He was known as a master of the 'Yanji bomb', a gunpowder-filled

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

used against the Japanese.

Career

In 1945, during the liberation of Korea, he marched into

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...

as part of the 88th brigade of independence,

Far Eastern Army The Far Eastern Army was a military formation of Cossack and White rebel units in the Far East (20 February 1920 – 12 September 1921), formed by the former ataman of the Trans–Baikal Cossack Army, Lieutenant General Grigory Semyonov from thr ...

. He first entered politics in 1946, becoming the vice chairman of the Chongjin city committee. From 1946, he was the director of communications for the Ministry of State Security. In his position, he helped the establishment of the Korean People's Army, by attending conferences on the formation of a regular army. Pak Yong-sun was first elected to the second Supreme People's Assembly in 1959, then elected to the fourth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. He was reelected to both positions repeatedly until his death in 1987. During the

4th Supreme People's Assembly The 4th Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) was elected on 25 November 1967 and convened for its first session on 14–16 December 1967. It was replaced on 25 December 1972 by the 5th Supreme People's Assembly. Meetings Officers Chairman Vice C ...

, he was also the minister for communications, and he was described as an expert of telecommunications. He was the museum director of the

Korean Revolution Museum The Korean Revolution Museum (), located in Pyongyang, North Korea, was founded on August 1, 1948, and holds a large exhibition of items related to Kim Il Sung and the Korean revolutionary movement. It is situated behind the Mansu Hill Grand Monume ...

since either 1973 or January 1971. He led several delegations of the

Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the unicameral legislature of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea. It consists of one deputy from each of the DPRK's 687 constituencies, elected to five-year t ...

on a number of unofficial overseas visits to

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. He is known to have been awarded both the Order of Kim Il Sung and Hero of the Republic; however, the date when it was awarded is unknown.

Works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, Yong-sun 1905 births 1987 deaths North Korean politicians Members of the 2nd Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 3rd Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 4th Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 5th Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 6th Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 7th Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 4th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 5th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea People from Kyongwon County People from North Hamgyong Province