Pak Yong-sik

In this Korean name, the family name is Pak.

Pak Yong-sik (born 1950)^[2] is a senior North Korean military officer and Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) politician, who served as the country's defence minister from 2015 to 2018. Pak is the 6th Defense Minister appointed by Kim Jong Un. Pak is a member of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea.^[2]

Pak Yong-sik
Minister of Defence
In office 11 July 2015 – 4 June 2018
Supreme Leader	Kim Jong Un
Preceded by	Hyon Yong-chol
Succeeded by	No Kwang-chol
Personal details
Born	Pak Yong-sik 1950 (age 74–75) Pyongyang, North Korea
Political party	Workers' Party of Korea
Military service
Allegiance	North Korea
Branch/service	Korean People's Army
Rank	General

Pak Yong-sik
Chosŏn'gŭl	박영식
Hancha	朴永植[1]
Revised Romanization	Bak Yeongsik
McCune–Reischauer	Pak Yŏngsik

Pak Yong-sik was appointed vice-director of the Political Department of the Korean People's Army sometime before January 2015,^[3][4] having previously served as an official of the Ministry of People's Security.^[5] He was promoted to general in April 2015,^[6] and shortly thereafter he took over the post of minister of the People's Armed Forces after his predecessor, Hyon Yong-chol, was demoted for insubordination. His promotion was publicly revealed on 11 July, though the exact date of his appointment is unknown.^[7][8]

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, the first vice minister of the Ministry of People's armed forces.^[9]

Summary of service

Assignment history

• April 1999: Major general (sojang) (소장)
• April 14, 2009: Lieutenant general (chungjang) (소장)
• April 2014: Colonel general (sangjang) (상장)
• 2015: Army general (taejang) (대장)