Paek In-jun (; 27 October 1920 – 20 January 1999) was a North Korean writer and politician who served as a member of the

Supreme People's Assembly The Supreme People's Assembly (SPA; ) is the legislature of North Korea. It is ostensibly the highest organ of state power and the only branch of government in North Korea, with all state organs subservient to it under the principle of unified ...

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 borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

parliament.

Biography

Paek was born in 1920 in

Unsan County Unsan County is a ''kun'', or county, in eastern North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. Within the province, it borders Hyangsan to the east, Kujang and Nyŏngbyŏn to the south, and Tongch'ang and T'aech'ŏn to the west. In addition, it ...

, Heianhoku-dō,

Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

(now in

North Pyongan Province North Pyongan Province (also spelled North P'yŏngan; ; ) is a western provinces of North Korea, province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Pyongan Province, P'yŏng'an Province, remained a pro ...

, North Korea). He graduated from Pyongyang Gobo in 1938, studied theater in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, and then moved to Japan to attend

Rikkyo University , also known as Saint Paul's University, is a private university, in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, Japan. Rikkyo is one of the five MARCH (Japanese universities), MARCH universities, the group of private universities in the Kantō region, Kanto region, toge ...

. He returned to

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

in 1946, where he became active in the General Union of North Korean Literature and Art. He participated in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

as a

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

in the

Korean People's Army The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) encompasses the combined military forces of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). The KPA consists of five branches: the Korean People's Army Ground Force, Ground Force, the Ko ...

, and was trusted with

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

and

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

that thoroughly suited Kim Il Sung's tastes, and held key positions in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, including director of the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

. Since 1956, he has been an active writer for the Korea Writers' Union, and has served as the head of the

branch of the Writers' Union, a writer for the Film and Literature Creation Company, and a writer. From the late 1960s, he became involved in film literature, producing films such as ''The Family of Choi Hak-shin'' and ''Among the Village People''. He served as the head of the Baekdu Mountain Literary Creation Group, launched in 1968, where he also created the Five Revolutionary Operas. Based on this experience, he rose to the position of head of the Culture and Arts Department of the Administration Council. In 1985, he visited

as the head of the art troupe of the North and South Korean hometown visiting delegation, and in the late 1980s, he served as chairman of the General Union of Korean Literature and Arts. In 1985 he participated in the writing of the script for '' One Second for a Feat'' film. In 1990 following the

1990 North Korean parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in North Korea on 22 April 1990. 687 deputies were elected to the ninth Supreme People's Assembly. Results Of the 687 deputies, workers accounted for 37 percent, farmers 10 percent, and women 20 percent. Deputie ...

he became a member of the

, North Korea's

parliament and from 26 May 1990 to 5 September 1998 he served as Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly as well as

Vice Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly The vice chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly () is a member of the Supreme People's Assembly that ranks next to the Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, chairman. The SPA vice chairman is elected by the Supreme People's Assembly along w ...

. In 1991, ''Paek In-jun Poetry Collection'' was published. In 1966, he was awarded the title of , and was the first North Korean artist to be awarded the title of

Hero of Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievements in Soviet ...

and the first artist who received 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 ...

in May 1980 and the

National Reunification Prize The National Reunification Prize () is an award of North Korea, bestowed by the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly upon people who have contributed to the reunification of Korea. The award was instituted in 1990. Recipients 1990 * An Ji ...

. In 1994 following the death of Kim Il Sung, he was a member of its funeral commission. In July 1998 he was elected a member of the 10th convocation of the Supreme People's Assembly. He died in 1999.

References

Citations

Bibliography

*{{cite book, ref=CITEREFNorth_Korea_Handbook2002, author=Yonhap News Agency, title=North Korea Handbook, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JIlh9nNeadMC, date=2002, publisher=M.E. Sharpe, location=Seoul, isbn=978-0-7656-3523-5 20th-century North Korean writers 20th-century North Korean poets Recipients of the Order of Kim Il Sung Members of the 9th Supreme People's Assembly Members of the 10th Supreme People's Assembly 1920 births 1999 deaths Rikkyo University alumni Recipients of the National Reunification Prize Burials at the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery