Pak Myong-chol (; born 15 September 1941) is a North Korean political figure who joined the 6th Central Committee of the Korean Workers' Party in September 2010, along with

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

. He has served in several important posts in North Korea, including on the

National Defence Commission The National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (NDC) was the highest state institution for military and national defence leadership in North Korea, which also served as the highest governing institution of the countr ...

and as Minister of Physical Culture and Sports in the

Cabinet of North Korea The Cabinet of Democratic People's Republic of Korea () is the supreme administrative organ of North Korea. The Cabinet's official newspaper is '' Minju Choson''. History In North Korea's first constitution, adopted in 1948, the executive po ...

Life and career

Pak Myong-chol was born on 15 September 1941, in the northwestern Korean county of Uiju. When Pak was 17 or 18 years old, in 1959, his father Pak Jong-ho () was sent to South Korea on a mission from North Korean leader

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 led as its first Supreme Leader (North Korean title), supreme leader from North Korea#Founding, its establishm ...

and captured and killed. Consequently, the North Korean leader reportedly told the young Pak and his siblings that he, Kim Il Sung, would "look after them." Pak has been involved in the administration of sport in various high posts in North Korea since at least 1975. He served as the head of North Korea's Olympic Committee in 1992 (a role which he reprised in 2004), and served on Kim Il Sung's funeral committee in 1994. He travelled to

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

in South Korea in 2002 for the Asian Games which were taking place, arriving by boat with a huge delegation of cheerleaders that brought the number of North Koreans in Busan to nearly 700. He joined the Central Committee of the Korean Workers' Party in September 2010, and when Kim Jong Il died in December 2011, Pak was on the latter's funeral committee. While the South Korean

Ministry of Unification The Ministry of Unification () is an executive department of the South Korean government aimed at promoting Korean reunification. It was first established in 1969 as the ''National Unification Board'', under the rule of Park Chung Hee. It gaine ...

noted that his appearances were curtailed after April 2012 and some speculated Kim Jong Un was purging officials installed by his father, he was appointed to a number of less powerful positions in 2014, including President of the DPRK Central Court, and 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 ...

. In his youth, Pak trained as a

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

, which is possibly how he met his wife. His wife is named Kim Yong-suk (); she is not to be confused with Kim Jong Il's wife of the same name. She is the daughter of the famous Korean-Japanese wrestler

Rikidōzan (born Kim Sin-rak; ; November 14, 1924 – December 15, 1963), better known as Rikidōzan (), was a Korean-born Japanese wrestler who competed in sumo and professional wrestling. He was known as The Father of Puroresu (professional wrestling ...

, apparently from the first of his four marriages. Thanks in part to his wife, Pak had a close tie to the famous Japanese wrestler-politician and advocate of engagement with North Korea

Antonio Inoki (born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, Myong-chol Living people 1941 births People from North Pyongan Province People from Uiju County Presidents of the Central Court of North Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea Government ministers of North Korea