View source for Pak Hon-yong

{{Short description|Korean independence activist (1900–1955)}}
{{family name hatnote|Pak||lang=Korean}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Pak Hon-yong
| native_name         = {{nobold|박헌영}}
| native_name_lang    = ko
| office              = [[Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea|Vice Chairman]] of the [[Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea|Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee]]
| term_start          = 24 June 1949
| term_end            = 6 August 1953
| 1blankname          = Chairman
| 1namedata           = [[Kim Il Sung]]
| alongside           = [[Ho Ka-i]]
| convocation         = [[2nd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea|2nd Central Committee]]
| office1             = [[Vice Premier of North Korea|Vice Premier of the Cabinet]]
| term_start1         = 9 September 1948
| term_end1           = 3 March 1953
| premier1            = [[Kim Il Sung]]
| alongside1          = [[Hong Myong-hui]], [[Kim Chaek]], [[Ho Ka-i]], [[Choe Chang-ik]] and [[Choe Yong-gon (official)|Choe Yong-gon]]
| convocation1        = [[1st Cabinet of North Korea]]
| office2             = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (North Korea)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| convocation2        = [[1st Cabinet of North Korea]]
| term_start2         = 9 September 1948
| term_end2           = 3 March 1953
| predecessor2        = Post established
| successor2          = [[Nam Il]]
| premier2            = [[Kim Il Sung]]
| office3             = Vice Chairman of the [[Workers' Party of South Korea]] [[Central Committee of the Workers' Party of South Korea|Central Committee]]
| term_start3         = 24 November 1946
| term_end3           = 30 June 1949
| 1blankname3         = Chairman
| 1namedata3          = [[Ho Hon]]
| alongside3          = [[Yi Ki-sok]]
| office4             = Chairman of the [[Communist Party of Korea]] [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of Korea|Central Committee]]
| term_start4         = 14 September 1945
| term_end4           = 24 November 1946
| predecessor4        = Post established
| successor4          = [[Ho Hon]]
| image               = Pak Hon-yong 02.jpg
| caption             = Pak in 1948
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1900|5|28}}
| birth_place         = [[Yesan County|Yesan]], [[South Chungcheong Province]], [[Korean Empire]]
| death_date          = {{death date|df=yes|1955|12|18}} (aged 55)
| death_place         = [[Pyongyang]], North Korea
| death_cause         = 
| resting_place       = 
| nationality         = [[North Korea|Korean]]
| citizenship         = [[Citizenship in North Korea|North Korean]]
| known_for           = 
| education           = Kyŏngsŏng Ordinary High School(1919)
| alma_mater          = [[KyungKi High School]] <br/> [[International Lenin School]]
| spouse              = Joo Se-juk, Jung Sunnyen, Yi Sunkeum, Yun Lena
| children            = Daughter: Vivian Park, Nathesa Park<br />Son: Park Byungsam
| parents             = Lee Hakkyu (Mother)<br />Park Hyin-ju (Father)
| module              = {{Infobox Korean name/auto
| hangul          = %박헌영
| hanja           = 朴憲永
| hangulho        = %_이정%, %_이춘
| hanjaho         = 而丁/而靜, 而春
| hangulja        = %_덕영
| hanjaja         = 德永
| child           = yes
}}
}}
'''Pak Hon-yong''' ({{Korean|hangul=박헌영|hanja=朴憲永}}; 28 May 1900 – 18 December 1955{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}), [[courtesy name]] Togyong ({{lang|ko|덕영}}), was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher, communist activist and one of the main leaders of the [[Communist Party of Korea|Korean communist movement]] during [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japan's colonial rule]] (1910–1945).

During the Japanese occupation of Korea, he tried to organize the Korean Communist Party. When the Japanese authorities cracked down on the party, he went into hiding. After Korea's liberation, August 1945, he set up the [[Communist Party of Korea]] in the South, but under pressure from [[United States Army Military Government in Korea|American authorities]] he moved to North Korea (then [[People's Committee of North Korea]]) in April 1948. He attended a meeting with [[Kim Ku]] and [[Kim Kyu-sik]] on the subject of [[Korean reunification]].

On record, he collaborated with [[Kim Il Sung]] in the [[Korean War]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/06/24/2010062400087.html|script-title=ko:야, 이 자식아! 전쟁이 잘못되면 나뿐 아니라 너도 책임이 있어!|trans-title=You bastard, if the war goes wrong, you're responsible, too!|date=6 June 2010|publisher=[[The Chosun Ilbo]]|access-date=2019-06-16}}</ref> In 1955, on account of the defeat in the [[Korean War]], he was sentenced to forfeiture of all property and death. Although the Soviet Union and China tried to dissuade Kim Il Sung from executing Pak,<ref>Ivanov, Vasily Ivanovich, [https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/111639 Memorandum of Conversation with Kim Il Sung : April 19, 1956] Wilson Center Digital Archive</ref> Pak was eventually executed for the fabricated accusation of being an American spy.<ref name="The Real North Korea 2013">{{cite book | title=[[The Real North Korea]] | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=Lankov, Andrei | author-link = Andrei Lankov| year=2013 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780199964291/page/13 13 to 14] | isbn=978-0-19-996429-1 }}</ref>

== Biography ==
===Early life===
Pak was born to a ''[[yangban]]'' family of the [[Park (Korean name)|Yeonghae Park]] lineage in [[Sinyang-myeon]], [[Yesan]] County, [[South Chungcheong Province]]. However, he was the illegitimate son of a [[Concubinage|concubine]].

In 1919, he graduated from [[Gyeongseong|Kyŏngsŏng]] Ordinary High School, now [[Kyunggi High School]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://parkssi.com/park-yeonghae/haenglog-heonyeong.htm|script-title=ko:영해박씨 박헌영|work=Bakssi Jokbo website|access-date=11 April 2006}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> In March 1919, he was involved in the [[March First Movement]] and later [[Korean independence movement|independence movements]].

=== Political activities ===
In 1921, he joined the [[Shanghai]] branch of the [[Communist Party of Korea]], [[Irkutsk]] faction. At this time, he was secretary of the Korean Communist Youth League. In January 1922, he participated in the [[Comintern]] Far East People's Representative Council in [[Moscow]].

Pak Hon-yong was arrested in Korea in April 1922 and was charged with being a Communist Party organizer. He was released in 1924 and became active as a reporter for the newspapers ''[[The Dong-A Ilbo]]'' and ''[[The Chosun Ilbo]]'' under the names Ijong ({{lang|ko|이정}}) and Ichun ({{lang|ko|이춘}}).

====Underground====
[[File:1929년 박헌영 2.jpg|thumb|left|Pak among other Korean students of the International Lenin School]]
On 18 April 1925, Pak Hon-yong became one of the founders of the Communist Party of Korea. From this point until the end of World War II, his activities were clandestine.

In 1926, Pak appeared in court. During the trial, he feigned insanity and ate [[feces]], with the result that he was acquitted in November of that year. Afterwards, he was confined to his home due to his supposed ill-health, but in December he escaped by way of [[Manchukuo|Manchuria]] to reach the [[Soviet Union]]. It was only then that the Japanese realized that he was feigning madness.

In the Soviet Union, he was educated in the [[International Lenin School]], returning home in 1940. Back in Korea, he was active in the resistance to Japanese rule.

===After World War II===
[[File:Lyuh.W.H and Pak.H.Y.jpg|thumb|left|Pak Hon-yong and [[Lyuh Woon-hyung]] in 1946]]

Late in August 1945, the Communist Party of Korea ({{Korean|hangul=조선 공산당|labels=no}}) was re-established, having been officially disbanded in 1928, and Pak became its secretary. Pak was the most prominent Communist in Korea at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=Michael E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FZlhkifQOksC |title=Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey: A Short History |date=2007-04-30 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-3174-5 |pages=103 |language=en}}</ref> On 5 January 1946, as its representative, he announced at a foreign and domestic press conference that, supporting the decision of the Moscow conference of great powers (UK, US, Soviet Union), Korea was now in the process of a "democratic revolution". After the December 1945 [[Moscow Conference (1945)|Moscow Conference]], the Communist Party of Korea was oppressed by United States Army Military Government.

In September 1946, he was instrumental in organizing a [[Korean general strike of September 1946|general strike]], which at its peak involved more than a quarter of a million workers.

In December 1946, he organized the [[Workers Party of South Korea]] known as ({{Korean|hangul=남로당|labels=no}}), and became one of two vice chairmen.

=== North–South negotiations and life in North Korea ===
[[File:Kim Il Sung's Visit to Moscow 1949-03.jpg|thumb|left|From the left: Kim Il Sung, [[Anastas Mikoyan]], [[Andrei Gromyko]], Pak Hon-yong and [[Hong Myong-hui]] passing before the guard of honor at the Yaroslav Station. Moscow, March 1949]]

In April 1948, Pak visited North Korea for negotiations, along with [[Kim Ku]] and [[Kim Kyu-sik]]. In May 1948, the negotiations ended, and he remained in the North.

In September 1948, while keeping his role as secretary of the Workers' Party of South Korea, he became Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the newly established North Korean state.<ref name="The Real North Korea 2013"/>

Pak became secretary of the [[Workers' Party of Korea]] when the North and South parties united in April 1950. Pak was the vice chairman of the Politburo of the DPRK from 1949 to 1953,<ref name="The Real North Korea 2013"/> and Foreign Minister of the DPRK until he was ousted and arrested in 1953.<ref name="The Real North Korea 2013"/>

=== Korean War ===
According to secret documents of the former Soviet Union released in succession until 2002, Kim Il Sung and Pak always acted together until the detailed plans of the war were finally decided. They were also on hand during their visit to Moscow from 30 March to 25 April 1950, meeting Stalin and receiving written instructions of detailed war plans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/06/24/2010062400087.html|title=2010, 인물로 다시 보는 6·25|date=24 June 2010|publisher=[[The Chosun Ilbo]]|access-date=2019-06-16}}</ref>

===Arrest and death===
[[File:Pak Hon yong.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Pak Hon-yong, 1952]]

Pak was arrested on 3 August 1953 in a [[purge]] of the former members of the Workers' Party of South Korea orchestrated by [[Kim Il Sung]].<ref name="The Real North Korea 2013"/> On 15 December 1955, he was sentenced to death for espionage. The date of Pak's death is uncertain, though sources suggest that he was executed that same month.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Suh|first1=Dae-Sook|title=Kim Il Sung: The North Korean Leader|date=1988|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=New York|isbn=9780231065733|page=[https://archive.org/details/00book729884/page/136 136]|url=https://archive.org/details/00book729884|url-access=registration|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Paige|first1=Glenn D.|last2=Lee|first2=Dong Jun|title=The Post-War Politics of Communist Korea|journal=The China Quarterly|date=1963|volume=14|issue=14|pages=17–29|doi=10.1017/S0305741000020993|jstor=651340|s2cid=154816371}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Deane|first1=Hugh|title=Review of The Origins of the Korean War by Bruce Cumings|journal=Science & Society|date=1996|volume=60|issue=2|pages=252–254|jstor=40403565}}</ref>

== Works ==
* ''Our Duties in Modern Society''<!-- Sounds laterally translated -->
* ''Historical Views of the Christian Inner'' <!-- Sounds laterally translated -->

==See also==
*[[Communist Party of Korea]]
*[[Workers' Party of South Korea]]
*[[Workers' Party of Korea]]
*[[Korean independence movement]]
*[[Politics of North Korea]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{commons and category}}
{{wikisource|works=or}}
*[http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200411/kt2004110818494654140.htm ''Korea Times'' article by Andrei Lankov] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060109235827/http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200411/kt2004110818494654140.htm |date=9 January 2006 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061019144837/http://myhome.shinbiro.com/~mss1/pakhonyong.html Brief profile]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120324223540/http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=246220&v=43 Pak Hon-Yong:Nate]
* [http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=103&oid=020&aid=0000040191 남로당지도자 박헌영 자료집 내는 아들 圓鏡스님]
* [http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=020&aid=0000241782 아버지 전집 펴내는 '박헌영 아들' 원경스님]
* [http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/view/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0001294888 "박헌영이 미제 간첩? 제국주의와 맞서 싸운 애국자"] 오마이뉴스 2010년 01월 04일자
* [http://newsmaker.khan.co.kr/khnm.html?mode=view&code=116&artid=18330&pt=nv 부러져버린 '인민의 고무래' 박헌영 ①] 경향신문
* [http://newsmaker.khan.co.kr/khnm.html?mode=view&code=116&artid=18395&pt=nv 부러져버린 '인민의 고무래' 박헌영 ②] 경향신문
* [http://shindonga.donga.com/docs/magazine/shin/2007/09/10/200709100500035/200709100500035_1.html 이정식 교수, '여운형은 박헌영파에 암살' 주장 - 동아일보 매거진]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
|before=-
|title=Leader of [[Communist Party (South Korea)|Joseon Communist Party]]
|years=1945–1946
|after=
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Workers' Party of Korea}}
{{NKFMs}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, Hon-yong}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1955 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century executions by North Korea]]
[[Category:People from Yesan County]]
[[Category:Korean communists]]
[[Category:Korean Marxists]]
[[Category:Activists for Korean independence]]
[[Category:Executed communists]]
[[Category:Executed politicians]]
[[Category:Executed revolutionaries]]
[[Category:People executed by North Korea by firing squad]]
[[Category:Executed North Korean people]]
[[Category:Executed South Korean people]]
[[Category:Korean revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Leaders of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors]]
[[Category:Workers' Party of South Korea politicians]]
[[Category:Communist Party of Korea politicians]]
[[Category:Korean expatriates in China]]
[[Category:Korean expatriates in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Foreign ministers of North Korea]]
[[Category:Vice premiers of North Korea]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st Supreme People's Assembly]]
[[Category:Vice Chairmen of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st Central Committee of the Workers' Party of South Korea]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st Political Committee of the Workers' Party of South Korea]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st Standing Committee of the Workers' Party of South Korea]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Political Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea]]
[[Category:Members of the 2nd Standing Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea]]
[[Category:International Lenin School alumni]]
[[Category:South Korean emigrants to North Korea]]