Pak Yong-sik (born 1950) is a senior North Korean military officer and

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) politician, who served as the country's

defence minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 2015 to 2018. Pak is the 6th Defense Minister appointed by

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 ...

. Pak is a member of the

Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea The Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (CMC) () is an organ of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) which heads the Korean People's Army (KPA). One of the CMC's primary functions is to authorize ...

. Pak Yong-sik was appointed vice-director of the Political Department of 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 ...

sometime before January 2015, having previously served as an official of the Ministry of People's Security. He was promoted to general in April 2015, and shortly thereafter he took over the post of minister of the People's Armed Forces after his predecessor,

Hyon Yong-chol Hyon Yong-chol (; January 11, 1949 – possibly executed April 30, 2015) was a North Korean general and Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) politician. He served as Minister of Defence from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, he was reportedly removed from his p ...

, was demoted for insubordination. His promotion was publicly revealed on 11 July, though the exact date of his appointment is unknown. In June 2018, it was announced that he had been sacked about a week before the summit between North Korea and the United States, and was replaced in the position by

No Kwang-chol No Kwang-chol (; born 1956) is a North Korean soldier, a four-star general, and a member of the political bureau, who is the current minister of Defence. Biography No was born in 1956. He was elected as a member of the Supreme People's Assembly ...

, the first vice minister of the Ministry of People's armed forces.

Summary of service

Assignment history

* April 1999: Major general () () * April 14, 2009: Lieutenant general () () * April 2014: Colonel general () () * 2015: Army general () ()

References

North Korean generals Government ministers of North Korea People from Pyongyang Living people Defence ministers of North Korea 1950 births North Korean individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions {{NorthKorea-politician-stub