General Pak To-chun (; 9 March 1944 – 27 July 2022) was a politician of

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 ...

. According to his official biography, Pak was born in

Jagang Province Chagang Province (; ) is a province of 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 formed in ...

in 1944 and joined 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 ...

in 1960 (becoming a general in 2012). He later graduated from the exclusive Kim Il-sung Higher Party School and worked in a number of party posts in factories and mines. He was first elected to 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 1998. He ascended to leading provincial posts in the late 1990s, becoming chief secretary of the Jagang Committee of the

Workers' Party of Korea The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), also called the Korean Workers' Party (KWP), is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is ...

(WPK) in 2005. He oversaw the modernization of the province's arms-production facilities and the building of the Huichon Power Station, highlighted as models for "the building of a thriving nation." In September 2010 he was made

WPK Central Committee The Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea is the highest organ between national meetings of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the ruling party of North Korea. According to WPK rules, the Central Committee is elected by the party co ...

member at the 3rd Party Conference, and jumped to the leadership core as

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

alternate and secretary for military affairs. He was also elected to 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 ...

(NDC) in April 2011 and promoted to Politburo full member in April 2012, largely replacing Jon Pyong-ho as North Korea's military industry manager. In that capacity, Pak supervised the Kwangmyongsong-3 and Kwangmyongsong-3 Unit 2 launches in 2012, as well as a controversial nuclear test in February 2013. Pak was demoted from member of the NDC in April 2015. Hong Sung-mu, deputy director of the party's Machine Building Industry Department, is considered Pak's number two man.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, To-chun Members of the Supreme People's Assembly 1944 births 2022 deaths North Korean generals Alternate members of the 6th Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Secretariat of the Workers' Party of Korea Members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea People from Chagang Province