With profound sorrow, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) informs you of the passing of our beloved comrade Hack-Pil Chung, who died peacefully at the age of 86 on April 18 in Toronto. We offer our deepest condolences to his family, his comrades in the Korean Federation in Canada and his comrades in CPC(M-L).

Comrade Hack joined the work of CPC(M-L) for peace on the Korean Peninsula and the reunification of the Korean nation, and the work to oppose imperialist aggression and war and defend the fighting peoples of the world. He used to say that he was very glad to find CPC(M-L), the only political party in Canada that took up the cause of the Korean people and defended the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on a firm and principled basis. He became a staunch Party member and carried its banner until death.

Comrade Hack was born in Wonsan, the second largest city in Korea before partition. He was a teenager during the Korean War and remembered being an eye-witness to the massive mobilization of U.S. troops and artillery leading up to the battle of Changjin Reservoir in late 1950, a battle in which the unsuspecting U.S. military found themselves lured into a trap and annihilated by the Korean People’s Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteers. After the battle which lasted almost three weeks, Hack remembered seeing the remnants of the U.S. military fleeing with their dead and wounded.

During the War, when many were forced to flee to the south of the country due to the U.S. brutality, Hack’s family itself had to go south. Tens of thousands of Korean families were divided when the Americans refused to sign a peace treaty after they were defeated and signed an Armistice in 1953. Hack fought this division all his life.

The experience of the Korean War, the brutality of the U.S. aggressors he witnessed, having to flee to the south and the division of Korea and Korean families had a profound influence on Comrade Hack. He decried the devastation caused by the U.S. and its allies, including Canada. He became a firm opponent of U.S. imperialism on the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere in the world for the rest of his life.

Hack’s family came to Canada in the 1960s, part of the first large migration of Koreans to Canada. He found work at the physical plant of the University of Toronto as a technician and also took up political activities and kept busy with church and community projects. His friends and associates point out that he also acquired quite a bit of knowledge about nuclear power and nuclear energy. He was highly respected by coworkers and his peers for his tenacity, lively interest in Korean, Canadian and world affairs, his integrity, fidelity, ever-cheerful disposition and profound sense of social responsibility.

As a member of the Korean Federation in Canada, Comrade Hack was involved in a number of meetings in Shenyang, China over the last two decades where patriotic Koreans from the south and north of Korea as well as those living overseas got together to discuss ways to advance the movement for peace and the independent reunification of Korea. For his efforts he was declared persona non grata in the U.S.-dominated Republic of Korea (ROK) and his relatives there were put under surveillance by the Korean Intelligence Agency while attempts were made to no avail to have him shunned in Canada within his community.

Comrade Hack spoke at many public meetings that were organized by our Party and the Korea Truth Commission — Canadian Chapter — to discuss developments on the Korean Peninsula. On one memorable occasion, on June 25, 2010, at a public meeting in Toronto Comrade Hack explained in technical terms how the accusation against the DPRK that it had sunk the south Korean battleship the Cheonan, was a fabrication by the U.S.-ROK military. This was later proven correct by an independent investigation.

Hack also joined actions to oppose U.S.-ROK joint military exercises targeting the DPRK and took part in the 2017-18 Canadian peace petition campaign initiated by our Party calling for U.S. Troops Out of Korea. The work for Canadians to sign the Korea Peace Petition garnered close to 30,000 signatures across Canada.

Comrade Hack brought honour to the Korean community in Canada, to our Party and those associated with him. He was a courageous and principled Korean patriot and Canadian internationalist. The work of our Party to seek peace on the Korean Peninsula and for the right of the Korean people to reunify their divided country independently and peacefully, and to affirm their right to be as one nation independent and free, will always carry his name.

A red salute to you, Comrade Hack-Pil Chung. We will keep your memory alive in us.

Central Committee
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
April 26, 2023

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