Paek was born in South Pyongan Province, and served in the guerrilla armies of the Korean independence movement before 1945.

In 1962, he was appointed Director of the Political Security Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense and promoted to lieutenant general.

[3] In November 1970, he was elected to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and in August 1978, he was appointed deputy Minister of the People's Armed Forces.

He joined the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1970, and served on that body continuously beginning in 1980.

The following day a wreath was sent to his funeral by Kim Jong Il, and laudatory obituaries were distributed through the North Korean media.