Phạm Đăng Lâm (12 June 1918 – 2 June 1975) was a South Vietnamese diplomat, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Vietnam from 1963 to 1964, and again from November 1964 to 1965. He served as

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 under Prime Minister Nguyễn Văn Lộc. He was the last South Vietnamese ambassador to the UK He was known for being the chief negogiator on the South Vietnamese side in the 1973 Paris Peace Talks to end the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and the co-existence of

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

and

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

Early life

He was born on 12 June 1916 in

Vĩnh Long Vĩnh Long () is a city and the capital of Vĩnh Long Province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Vĩnh Long covers and has a population of 147,039 (as of 2009). The name was spelled 永隆 ("eternal prosperity") in the former Hán Nôm writing sys ...

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; vi, Đàng Trong (17th century - 18th century, Việt Nam (1802-1831), Đại Nam (1831-1862), Nam Kỳ (1862-1945); km, កូសាំងស៊ីន, Kosăngsin; french: Cochinchine; ) is a historical exony ...

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

Political career

He has been a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1949, serving in both the

State of Vietnam The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...

and

Paris Peace Accords

On the morning of 27 November 1972 Lâm met with the head of the U.S. Delegation of the

Paris Peace Accords The Paris Peace Accords, () officially titled the Agreement on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Viet Nam (''Hiệp định về chấm dứt chiến tranh, lập lại hòa bình ở Việt Nam''), was a peace treaty signed on January 27, 1 ...

, William J. Porter to discuss the drafting of the Peace documents. After the meeting Porter reported to

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

regarding Lâm's thought, :''"He âmstressed need for preparing

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

psychologically for draft agreement. He said that when agreement was presented in Saigon by you, it had come as a ‘bomb’ because Ambassador

Bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...

had briefed President Thiệu that October 8–11 meetings had produced indications of serious DRV intention to negotiate and willingness to separate military from political issues, but nothing more than this bare outline. Thus when draft agreement was presented as best which would be achieved at that time, Saigon leadership did not understand fully why the United States believed that to be so."'' :''"Lâm said question of U.S. public opinion and Congressional support is major factor which had not been grasped earlier by Saigon, and that you also said some very important things about US/SVN relationships after conclusion of the accord. If these things had been grasped earlier by Saigon, they would have greatly helped the process of psychological preparation."'' At the Paris Peace Accords, regarding both North Vietnam and South Vietnam, Lâm stresses that such co-existence must be based on mutual respect and the right of the people of North and South Vietnam to follow whatever paths they have chosen. He added that this also meant North and South Vietnam could have friendly relations with neighboring countries. If the Paris Peace Accords live up to its role, Lâm states "The solidarity of Southeast Asia will then become a living reality." According to Lâm, for peace and solidarity to occur in Southeast Asia, it requires work and effort from everyone worldwide to maintain it.

Personal life

In addition to his native Vietnamese, Lam was also fluent in French and English. He died on 2 June 1975 in Paris after a long battle with an illness.

References

1916 births 1975 deaths South Vietnamese politicians Ambassadors of South Vietnam to the United Kingdom {{diplomat-stub