North Korea Leadership Watch

Research and Analysis on the DPRK Leadership

Pak Myong Sun

Pak Myong Sun (tagged) attends Kim Jong Il's 2009 visit to the Pyongyang Cornstarch Factory (Photo: KCNA)

Pak Myong Sun (tagged) attends Kim Jong Il’s 2009 visit to the Pyongyang Cornstarch Factory (Photo: KCNA)

updated July 19, 2016

Pak Myong Sun (Pak Myo’ng-so’n) is the deputy (vice) director of the Workers’ Party of Korea [WPK] Light Industry Department Vice Chair of WPK Central Auditing Commission.  Pak is also a deputy (delegate) to the Supreme People’s Assembly.

Pak’s first significant position was during the 1980s and 1990s when she served as director of the Pyongyang Foreign Service Institute.  She was first elected a deputy (delegate) to the Supreme People’s Assembly in July 1998.  In September 1998 she was appointed director of the State Tourism General Bureau.  In 1999, Pak Myong Sun was appointed Vice Chair of the North Headquarters of the National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification.  She later resumed her former position as director of the Pyongyang Foreign Service Institute one year later.

Pak Myong Sun was not re-elected to the Supreme People’s Assembly in 2003 and instead became head of a foreign trade corporation.  She held that position until 2006 when she was appointed director of the External Service Bureau.  In 2008 she held the position of head of the Korean Association of Cooks.  She was elected to the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly in March 2009.

In September 2009, Pak Myong Sun was appointed a Vice Premier of the DPRK Cabinet.  She attended Kim Jong Il’s December 2009 visit to the Pyongyang Cornstarch Factory and in March 2010 attended a central report meeting marking International Women’s Day.  She held the Vice Premier position until June 2010, at which time she was removed from office during the 3rd session of the 12th SPA.  She was elected Vice Chair of the WPK Central Auditing Commission during the 3rd Party Conference on September 28, 2010.

From 2011 to 2013, Pak worked as the head of the People’s General Service Bureau.  In 2013 she migrated to the central party and holds the position of deputy director of the WPK Light Industry Department.

Pak Myong Sun is the younger sister of Pak Myong Chol, a retired core DPRK elite who served as President of the DPRK Central Court from 2014 to 2016, a councilor on the National Defense Commission from 2007 to 2009 and held several stints as the Minister of  Physical Culture and Sports.

Pak Myong Sun

Deputy Director, WPK Light Industry Department

Vice Chair, WPK Central Auditing Commission

Deputy, Supreme People’s Assembly

1986: Director, Pyongyang Foreign Service Institute

1998: (July) Elected, deputy, 10th Supreme People’s Assembly

1998: (Septmeber) Director, State Tourism General Bureau

1999: (July) Vice Chair, North HQ Alliance for the Country’s Reunification

(September) Director, Pyongyang Foreign Service Institute

2003: Principal, foreign trading corporation

2006: Director, External Service Bureau

2008: Chair, Korean Association of Cooks

2009: (March) Elected, deputy, 12th Supreme People’s Assembly

(September) Appointed, DPRK Vice Premier

2010: (June) Removed from office, DPRK Vice Premier

(September), Elected, Vice Chair, 6th WPK Central Auditing   Commission

2011: Director, People’s General Service Bureau

(December) Member, Kim Jong Il Funeral Committee

2013: Deputy Director, WPK Light Industry Department

2016: (May) Elected, Vice Chair, 7th WPK Central Auditing Commission

Compiled from DPRK and ROK open sources; “Pak Myong Son Nominated as Vice Premier of DPRK Cabinet,” Korean Central Broadcasting Station (in Korean), September 4, 2009; “North Korea Newsletter No. 71,” Yonhap News Agency, September 10, 2009; “National Meeting Marks Centenary of International Women’s Day,” Korean Central News Agency, March 8, 2010; “Third Session of 12th SPA,” Korean Central Broadcasting Station, June 7, 2010 “DPRK Gets New Premier,” Chosun Ilbo, June 8, 2010; “WPK Central Committee and WPK Central Auditing Commission Meet,” NK Leadership Watch, May 10, 2016

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