Vietnam has two new deputy public security ministers after minister elected president

The Vietnamese government has appointed two new Deputy Ministers of Public Security after its former Minister To Lam was elected State President in May.

The two new Deputy Ministers are Lieutenant General Pham The Tung, head of the Department of Internal Political Security; and Major General Nguyen Ngoc Lam, head of the Investigation Police Department for Corruption, Smuggling and Economic Crimes, also known as C03.

At the announcement ceremony in Hanoi on Wednesday, Minister of Public Security Luong Tam Quang lauded his two new deputies, highlighting their careers directly involving the fight against crimes.

Pham The Tung, 52, comes from the northern province of Hung Yen, the same as Minister Quang. He was promoted to deputy director of Hung Yen’s Public Security Department in 2014 and then chief of Bac Ninh’s police force in October 2019.

Tung was appointed director of the Public Security Department of Nghe An province, which borders Laos, before getting promoted to head the ministry’s Department of Internal Political Security in December 2023.

Nguyen Ngoc Lam, 51, comes from Nghe An province. He became the police chief of Quang Ninh province, which borders China, in June 2020 before heading C03 in February 2022.

During his time in Quang Ninh, Lam directed the police force to bust several major crimes, including a mineral ore smuggling ring to China in September 2020 and an illegal human trafficking ring from China to other countries via Quang Ninh.

Besides the two new appointees, the ministry has four other deputy ministers: Tran Quoc To, Le Quoc Hung, Le Van Long, and Le Van Tuyen.