Paik Sun Yup
| Paik Sun-yup 백선엽 白善燁 |
|
|---|---|
Paik in July 2011.
|
|
| Born |
November 23, 1920 Kangsŏ-gun, Japanese Korea (now Nampho, South Pyongan Province, North Korea) |
| Allegiance |
 Manchukuo South Korea
|
| Service/branch |
 Manchukuo Imperial Army Korean Constabulary Republic of Korea Army
|
| Years of service |
1944-1945 1945-1946 1946-1960 |
| Rank |
First Lieutenant First Lieutenant General
|
| Commands held | 5th Infantry Regiment 5th Infantry Division 1st Infantry Division I Corps II Corps First Republic of Korea Army Republic of Korea Army Republic of Korea Armed Forces |
| Battles/wars |
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| Paik Sun-yup | |
| Hangul | 백선엽 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | |
| Revised Romanization | Baek Seon-yeop |
| McCune–Reischauer | Paek Sŏnyŏp |
Paik Sun-yup (Korean: 백선엽, Hanja: 白善燁) (born November 23, 1920) is a retired South Korean military officer. He served both Manchukuo and South Korea, the latter during the Korean War.
Paik is known for his service during the Korean War and for being the first four-star general in the history of the South Korean military. His brother, Paik In-Yeop, also served in the Republic of Korea Army during the Korean War, commanding the 17th Independent Regiment at the Battle of Ongjin and again in the Inchon Landings.
Paik was born in Kangsŏ-gun, South P'yŏngan, currently the city of Nampo, on November 23, 1920, during a time when Korea was under Japanese rule. He was born the eldest of three siblings, with a younger sister and brother, being raised by a widowed mother. In 1925 the Paik family moved to Pyongyang where it lived under extremely poor conditions in a single, rented room. Unable to feed her family, Paik's mother attempted to take the children and commit family suicide by jumping from the Taedong River bridge but was dissuaded from doing so by her older sister.
Paik's mother and sister soon took jobs at a rubber factory to pay for his schooling. He attended Mansu Primary School for four years before transferring to Yaksong Primary School. After, he spent five years in Pyongyang Normal School, training to be a teacher in 1939.
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