Pak To-chun

{{Short description|North Korean politician (1944–2022)}}

{{family name hatnote|Pak||lang=Korean}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Pak To-chun

| image =

| caption =

| office = Member of the WPK Politburo

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| term_end =

| deputy =

| 1blankname = {{nowrap|Supreme Leader}}

| 1namedata = Kim Jong-un

| predecessor =

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| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1944

| birth_place = Jagang Province,

| death_date = 2022

| death_place =

| religion =

| nationality = Korean

| citizenship = North Korean

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| education =

| alma_mater = Kim Il-sung Higher Party School

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| party = Workers' Party of Korea

| module = {{Infobox Korean name

| hangul = 박도춘

| hanja = 朴道春

| rr = Bak Dochun

| mr = Pak Toch'un

| context = north

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| child = yes

}}

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General Pak To-chun ({{langx|ko|박도춘}}; 9 March 1944 – 27 July 2022){{Cite web |title=Remains of More Martyrs Buried in Patriotic Martyrs Cemetery in Sinmi-ri|agency=KCNA |work=DPRK Today |date=2 September 2022 |access-date=8 September 2022 |url= https://dprktoday.com/abroad/news/39422?lang=e }} was a politician of North Korea.

According to his official biography, Pak was born in Jagang Province in 1944 and joined the Korean People's Army 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 in 1998.{{cite news|url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201009/news29/20100929-07ee.html|title=Profiles of Presidium and Members of Political Bureau|date=29 September 2010|publisher=Korean Central News Agency|accessdate=17 December 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402092716/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2010/201009/news29/20100929-07ee.html|archivedate=2 April 2015}} He ascended to leading provincial posts in the late 1990s, becoming chief secretary of the Jagang Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (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."{{cite news|url=http://nkleadershipwatch.wordpress.com/leadership-biographies/pak-to-chun/|title=Pak To Chun [Pak To-ch'un]|date=14 August 2013|publisher=North Korea Leadership Watch|accessdate=17 December 2013}}

In September 2010 he was made WPK Central Committee member at the 3rd Party Conference, and jumped to the leadership core as Politburo alternate and secretary for military affairs. He was also elected to the National Defence Commission (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.{{cite news|url=http://www.kcna.kp/kcna.user.article.retrieveNewsViewInfoList.kcmsf|title=Third Session of 13th SPA of DPRK Held|date=9 April 2015|publisher=Korean Central News Agency|accessdate=21 July 2015}} Hong Sung-mu, deputy director of the party's Machine Building Industry Department, is considered Pak's number two man.{{Cite web | title = The Passing of the Nuclear Torch: The Next Generation of WMD Scientists | last = Madden | first = Michael | work=38 North | date = 22 September 2014 | accessdate = 10 September 2017 | url = http://www.38north.org/2014/09/mmadden091914/ }}