Former ambassador to Japan fired for receiving bribes

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has dismissed former Vietnamese ambassador to Japan Vu Hong Nam for "serious violations and shortcomings" in his role.

On December 22, 2022, Nam was prosecuted and detained by the Ministry of Public Security's investigative agency for taking bribes.

A week later, the Party Central Committee's Secretariat concluded that Nam had shown a deterioration in political thought, morality, and lifestyle, and that he had "violated the principle of democratic centralism, Party regulations, State laws, and rules on Party members' code of conduct and responsibility to set a good example."

Vu Hong Nam's violations "had caused very serious consequences, bad public opinion, and frustration in society, adversely affecting the reputation of the Party and the Foreign Service".

Nam has been expelled from the Party.

Nam, 60, had 34 years of foreign affairs experience. He was chief of office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was then appointed Deputy Foreign Minister, and chairman of the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese.

Cases of giving, receiving or brokering bribes, and fraudulent actions regarding rescue flights that brought Vietnamese citizens home from overseas during the Covid-19 pandemic period have been identified at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport, the Government Office, the Hanoi People's Committee, and related units.

After the pandemic broke out, Vietnam organized around 2,000 repatriation flights to bring citizens home from overseas, according to a spokesman from the Ministry of Public Security. When the flights were deployed, many people complained they had to buy very expensive tickets and go through cumbersome procedures.

Investigators said that many ministerial officials colluded with businesses to reap hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars illicitly.

Over the past year, 51 people have been prosecuted. Among the people being investigated for taking bribes are Nguyen Quang Linh, assistant to Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh; To Anh Dung, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Vu Hong Nam, former ambassador to Japan; Tran Viet Thai, former ambassador to Malaysia; Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, former director of the foreign ministry's Consular Affairs Department; and diplomats working in Japan, Malaysia, Russia, and Angola.

Chu Xuan Dung, vice chairman of Hanoi's People's Committee, and Tran Van Tan, vice chairman of Quang Nam province, have also been investigated for taking bribes.