World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbasePaik Sun-yup (Revised Romanization: Baek Seon-yeop) was born in Japanese-occupied Korea in 1920 as the youngest of three children. In 1925, his mother, having lost her husband, moved the family to a small rented room in Heijo (now Pyongyang), Korea. His mother and older sister worked at a rubber factory and helped him pay for his school tuition fees at Mansu Primary School, Yaksong Primary School, and then Heijo Normal School. Although trained to be a teacher, he chose to join the military instead. He attended the Mukden Military Academy in northeastern China in the Japanese-sponsored puppet state of Manchukuo, and upon graduation he was commissioned into the Manchukuoan Army. He saw action against Chinese partisan fighters in Jiandao region, Songjiang Province, China on the border with Korea, and against Chinese Nationalist troops in northern China Proper in the final year of the war. He returned to Pyongyang after the end of WW2, though he would relocate to southern Korea shortly after due to the political instability in northern Korea due to the Communist threat. In southern Korea, Paik joined the Constabulary and was given the rank of first lieutenant, but he would rise in rank very quickly. When the Korean War began in 1950, he was made the commanding officer of the South Korean 1st Infantry Division; in this role he led his troops in retreat from Seoul to the southern city of Pusan (Busan), and later led the division in the reconquest of Pyongyang. He rose to corps command in Apr 1951 and was placed in charge of eastern Korea. In Jul 1951, he represented the South Korean military at the failed Kaesong Truce Talk. I was made a lieutenant general in early 1952 for his success in defeating the communist guerrilla forces in the Jirisan (mountain) region in southern Korea. In Jul 1952, Paik was made the Army Chief of Staff. In Jan 1953, he became the first full general of South Korea. After some time as the Chairman of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, he retired from the military in May 1960. Entering diplomatic service, he became the South Korean Ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1960, to France in 1961, and to Canada in 1965. Between 1969 and 1971, he was made the Minister of Transportation.

Photographs

Paik Sun-yup Timeline