View source for Pak Pong-ju

{{Short description|Premier of North Korea from 2003 to 2007 and 2013 to 2019}}
{{family name hatnote|Pak||lang=Korean}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Pak Pong-ju
| native_name         = {{nobold|박봉주}}
| image               =
| office              = [[State Affairs Commission of North Korea|Vice President of the State Affairs Commission]]
| term_start          = 29 June 2016
| term_end            = 29 September 2021
| president           = [[Kim Jong Un]]
| 1blankname          = First&nbsp;Vice&nbsp;President
| 1namedata           = [[Choe Ryong-hae]]
| successor           = [[Kim Tok-hun]]
| order2              = 9th
| office2             = Premier of North Korea
| 1blankname2         = Chairman
| 1namedata2          = [[Kim Jong Un]]
| term_start2         = 1 April 2013
| term_end2           = 11 April 2019
| successor2          = [[Kim Jae-ryong]]
| predecessor2        = [[Choe Yong-rim]]
| 1blankname4         = Chairman
| 1namedata4          = [[Kim Jong Il]]
| term_start4         = 3 September 2003
| term_end4           = 11 April 2007
| predecessor4        = [[Hong Song-nam]]
| successor4          = [[Kim Yong-il]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1939|4|10|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Kankyōhoku Province]], [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea, Empire of Japan]]
| death_date          =
| death_place         =
| party               = [[Workers' Party of Korea]]
| module              = {{Infobox Korean name/auto
| child               = yes
| hangul              = %박봉주
| hanja               = 朴奉珠
| hanjaref = {{efn|Some Chinese media translate this as "朴鳳柱"
}}
}}}}
'''Pak Pong-ju''' ({{Korean|hangul=박봉주}};<ref>{{cite web |author1= |date=10 Jan 2021 |script-title=ko:[속보] '김정은 측근' 조용원 북한 정치국 상무위원…박봉주 빠져 |url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20210111012200504 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110224604/https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20210111012200504 |archive-date=10 Jan 2021 |access-date=7 March 2021 |website=주식회사 연합뉴스 |publisher=[[Yonhap News Agency]] |language=Korean}}</ref> born 10 April 1939) is a North Korean politician who served as the [[Premier of North Korea]] from 2003 to 2007 and again from 2013 to 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2003/200309/news09/04.htm#11|title=1st Session of 11th SPA of DPRK Held|publisher=[[Korean Central News Agency]]|date=3 September 2004|access-date=14 April 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070516121133/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2004/200409/news09/04.htm#11|archive-date=16 May 2007}}</ref> He was elected a member of the [[Presidium of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea|Presidium]] of the [[Workers' Party of Korea]] (WPK) in 2016.

==Early career==
{{BLP sources section|date=August 2021}}
Pak Pong-ju was born in 1939.<ref name="mjseth242">{{Harvnb|Seth|2020|p=242}}</ref> Pak began his career in 1962 as manager of the Yongchon food factory in [[North Pyong'an Province]]. He became an alternative member of the ruling [[Korean Workers' Party]] (KWP) Central Committee in October 1980, and chief of the [[Namhung Youth Chemical Complex|Namhung Youth Chemical Combine]] Committee in July 1983. In May 1993, he became vice director of the KWP's Light Industries Department, and in March 1994, he was the vice director of the party's Economic Policy Supervisory Department. In July of that year, Pak ranked 188th out of 273 members on the funeral committee of the late leader [[Kim Il Sung]], indicating that he was on the periphery of the elite hierarchy. However, in September 1998, he was appointed to the chemical-industries portfolio under premier [[Hong Song-nam]], and replaced him five years later.<ref name="mjseth242"/>

==First Premiership (2004–2007)==
{{BLP sources section|date=August 2021}}
In 2005, in a plenary session of the [[Supreme People's Assembly]] Pak spoke regarding the reintroduction of the public distribution system. Pak proposed an administrative solution to food distribution and labeled it the party's position: "By all means, we must reach this year's grain production targets by thoroughly implementing the party's policy of agricultural revolution by fully concentrating and mobilizing the entire country's efforts into the agricultural front".<ref>"North Korea PM Says Farming, Increased Electricity, Coal Production Key in 2005" KCBS, 11 April 2005, BBC-MAPP</ref>

On 11 April 2007, the [[Korean Central News Agency]] reported that during the 5th session of the 11th Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, Pak Pong-ju was "relieved … of premiership" and [[Kim Yong-il]] elected the new premier.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2007/200704/news04/12.htm#1|title=5th Session of 11th SPA of DPRK Held|publisher=[[Korean Central News Agency]]|date=11 April 2007|access-date=14 April 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010055221/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2007/200704/news04/12.htm#1|archive-date=10 October 2007}}</ref> He had not been seen in public since May 2006. It is rumored that he was removed from office because he misused oil funds to be used for the farming sector,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10433937&ref=rss|title=North Korean Premier falls from grace and loses job|date=13 April 2007|access-date=14 April 2007|publisher=Reuters}}</ref> or that he was too heavily focused on economic development suggestions from the [[People's Republic of China]], instead of home-grown ideas.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=287183&selected=Analyses|title=North Korea: New Premier, Changing Priorities|date=12 April 2007|access-date=16 April 2007|publisher=[[Stratfor]]}}</ref>

As Premier, Pak Pong-ju is the [[head of government]] in the DPRK, and formed the top executive leadership of the DPRK with other executive officials. The other branch of the executive government was the [[National Defense Commission of North Korea]], led by [[Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea|Chairman of the National Defence Commission]] [[Kim Jong Un]]. As premier, he is responsible for organizing the [[Cabinet of North Korea|cabinet]] and appoints ministers and vice-premiers upon confirmation by the Supreme People's Assembly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.novexcn.com/dprk_constitution_98.html|title=Socialist Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Full text) 1998|access-date=14 April 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205154843/http://www.novexcn.com/dprk_constitution_98.html|archive-date=5 February 2012}}</ref>  Prior to becoming Premier, Pak had served as Chemical Industry Minister.  He serves as part of a committee heading the executive branch of the North Korean government, along with Kim Jong Un and SPA Presidium chairman [[Kim Yong-nam]].  Each man nominally holds one-third of the powers held by a president in most presidential systems. Pak handles domestic affairs, Kim Yong-nam conducts foreign relations and Kim Jong Un commands the armed forces.
On 23 August 2010, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that Pak Pong-ju "resurfaced at a state function in the capital, Pyongyang, on Saturday, carrying the title of first deputy director of the [[Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea|Central Committee]] of the ruling [[Workers' Party of Korea]], according to the North's state-run [[Korean Central Television]]."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/world/asia/24korea.html?_r=1&hp|title=North Korea Reinstates Market-Oriented Official|date=23 August 2010|access-date=23 August 2010|work=[[The New York Times]] | last=Choe | first=Sang-Hun}}</ref> He effectively replaced Kim Jong Il's sister [[Kim Kyong-hui]] as director of the Party Light Industry Department in 2012 (he was its vice-director from 1992 to 1998 and 2010–2012).

He was reputedly close to [[Jang Sung-taek]] and part of the current shifting of the government's attention to the consumer economy.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mansourov|first=Alexandre|title=A Dynamically Stable Regime
|url=http://38north.org/2012/12/amansourov121712/|publisher=[[38 North]]|access-date=12 January 2013|date=17 December 2012}}</ref>

==Second Premiership (2013–2019)==
On 31 March 2013 he was elected to [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea|Politburo Standing Committee]]. On 1 April, he replaced [[Choe Yong-rim]] for a second term as Premier. On 22 April, he chaired the first full session of the cabinet  which included a discussion of the "''[[byungjin]]'' line" of co-developing the economy and nuclear weapons, as well as budgetary issues for the People's Economy in the first and second quarters of 2013.<ref>{{cite web| url =http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01700&num=10516| title =Pak Opens Account with Conservative Aire|work=[[Daily NK]]| access-date = 27 April 2013| date =23 April 2013}}</ref> In July, it was announced that Pak's cabinet had taken full authority over economic measures by calling to "unconditionally executing the cabinet's decisions and instructions".<ref>{{cite web| url =http://en.paperblog.com/dprk-cabinet-holds-second-plenum-589969/| title =DPRK Cabinet Holds Second Plenum|work =paperblog| access-date = 21 July 2013}}</ref> On 11 April 2019, Pak was replaced by [[Kim Jae-ryong]] during the first session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly and given vice-chairmanship of the [[Workers' Party of Korea]].<ref>{{cite web|title=N.K. leader re-elected as chairman of State Affairs Commission|url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20190412001351325|publisher=[[Yonhap]]|access-date=12 April 2019|date=11 April 2019}}</ref>

==Post-Premiership==
Pak Pong-ju has been seen in the [[Kumsusan Palace of the Sun]], visiting the building on the 26th anniversary of the [[Death and state funeral of Kim Il Sung|death of Kim Il Sung]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zwirko |first1=Colin |title=Kim Jong Un visits grandfather's mausoleum on death anniversary |url=https://www.nknews.org/2020/07/kim-jong-un-visits-grandfathers-mausoleum-on-death-anniversary/ |website=[[NK News]] |access-date=7 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708140458/https://www.nknews.org/2020/07/kim-jong-un-visits-grandfathers-mausoleum-on-death-anniversary/ |archive-date=July 8, 2020 |language=English |date=July 7, 2020}}</ref> During the 2022 celebration of the [[Day of the Foundation of the Republic]], he participated in the central concert and banquet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nknews.org/2022/09/mysterious-new-aide-to-kim-jong-un-reappears-at-massive-concert-banquet/|title=Mysterious new aide to Kim Jong Un reappears at massive concert, banquet|last=Zwirko|first=Colin|date=2022-09-09|publisher=[[NK News]] |accessdate=2023-02-13}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Works cited===
{{cite book |last1=Seth |first1=Michael J. |title=A concise history of modern Korea : from the late nineteenth century to the present |date=2020 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=Lanham |isbn=978-1538129050 |edition=Third }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Hong Song-nam]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Premier of North Korea]]|years=2003–2007}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Kim Yong-il]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Choe Yong-rim]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Premier of North Korea]]|years=2013–2019}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Kim Jae-ryong]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{WPKpresidium}}
{{NKPMs}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, Pong-Ju}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from North Hamgyong Province]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of North Korea]]
[[Category:Alternate members of the 6th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea]]
[[Category:Members of the 7th Presidium of the Workers' Party of Korea]]
[[Category:Vice Chairmen of the Workers' Party of Korea and its predecessors]]