He rose to fame as an Asian football star in the 8th World Cup held in Britain in July Juche 55 (1966) by scoring a goal against the Italian rival, thus making the DPRK team win qualification for quarterfinals.

In 2009, the AFC praised Pak as "grandfather" of the Asian football heroes, saying:

After the game between the DPRK and Italy ended with 1:0 in the 1966 World Cup, Pak has been kept in the memory of English football fans.

Pak's ball into the net of the Italian team led to the DPRK's advancement into the quarterfinals, the first of its kind for the Asian teams in the World Cup history.

In 2010, the U.S. Fox Sports recalled that the match was one of ten events in the history of World Cup with Pak Tu Ik's scoring at around 42nd minute of the first half beyond the expectations of all spectators.

Pak, called a pearl of the East, was born into a worker's family in Pyongyang in December 1936.

He liked to play football from his early years, and began his career from 1957. Two years later, he became a forward in the national team.

He took part in more than 130 international tournaments.

He was honored with the audience of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il on several occasions. He made a contribution to the sports development of the country while serving as a football coach and official in the sports field for long time.