Paek Nam-sun
North Korean diplomat (1929-2007)

Paek Nam-sun (Korean: 백남순; Korean pronunciation: [pɛŋ.nam.sun] or [pɛk̚] [nam.sun]; March 13, 1929 – January 2, 2007) was the North Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1998 until his death. He was one of the few North Koreans to frequently be in the international spotlight.
Early life
Paek was born in Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province.
Education
Paek graduated from Kim Il Sung University in Pyongyang.
Career
In 1968, Paek became vice director of the International Affairs Department of the Workers' Party of Korea. Paek participated in the first round of North-South Red Cross talks in 1972.
In 1974, Paek became the ambassador to Poland until 1979.
Paek also served on the Supreme People's Assembly from 1990 until the time of his death, having been elected to the 9th, 10th, and 11th sessions.
Personal life
His third son Paek Ryong-Chon became the president of the Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 2011.
Death
Paek died on 2 January 2007 in Pyongyang.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Paek Nam-sun” is north Korean diplomat (1929-2007). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Paek, Nam-sun and North, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q494061. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1929, 2007, 1998 and 1968.
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This entry incorporates text from “Paek Nam-sun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.