| Hor Namhong | |
| Native Name: | ហោ ណាំហុង |
| Office: | Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia |
| Term Start: | 16 July 2004 |
| Term End: | 22 August 2023 |
| Term Start1: | 30 November 1998 |
| Term End1: | 4 April 2016 |
| Primeminister1: | Hun Sen |
| Term Start2: | 1990 |
| Term End2: | 1993 |
| Primeminister2: | Hun Sen |
| Predecessor2: | Hun Sen |
| Office3: | Member of Parliament for Kampong Cham |
| Term Start3: | 25 November 1998 |
| Term End3: | 29 July 2018 |
| Birth Date: | 15 November 1935 |
| Birth Place: | Phnom Penh, Cambodia, French Indochina |
| Party: | Cambodian People's Party |
| Children: | 5 |
Hor Namhong (Central Khmer: ហោ ណាំហុង; born 15 November 1935)[1] is a Cambodian diplomat who served in the government of Cambodia as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1993[2] and again from 1998 to 2016.[3] He is a member of the Cambodian People's Party and has been a Deputy Prime Minister since 2004. He served as Cambodia's foreign minister for a combined tenure of 20 years.
Born at Phnom Penh, Hor Namhong was educated at the École royale d'administration (diplomatic section) in Cambodia.[1] He holds a Master of Law degree from the Faculty of Law in Paris[2] and a diploma from the European Institute of High International Studies in France.[1]
Between 1967 and 1973 Hor Namhong served at the Embassy of Cambodia in Paris, which became the mission of the exiled Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea (GRUNK) in 1970. Between 1973 and 1975 he represented Cambodia as ambassador to Cuba.[2]
Between 1975 and 1979 Hor Namhong claims to have been a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge at Boeng Trabek.[4] There have been accusations that he collaborated with his captors but Hor Namhong denies the accusations and was successful in a defamation suit against his accusers.[4] [5] On April 27, 2011, Hor Namhong lost a defamation suit in the French Supreme Court in which he claimed he was innocent of atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 through 1979.[6] [7]
In July 2011 Namhong lodged a protest with United States officials regarding a leaked diplomatic cable. The undated cable claimed that Namhong "became head of the Beng Trabek (sic) camp and he and his wife collaborated in the killing of many prisoners."[8]
In 1980, following the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Hor Namhong joined the government as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1982 he was appointed as ambassador to the Soviet Union, a post which he held until 1989.[2] In 1989 he returned to Cambodia as Minister of the Council of Ministers in charge of Foreign Affairs. In 1990 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs[2] and in 1991 became a member of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia.
Between 1987 and 1991 Hor Namhong was one of the key negotiators in the peace talks to end the "Cambodia Conflict". In October 1991 he was a signatory of the Paris Peace Agreement.
In 1993 he returned to the diplomatic corps as ambassador to France. In 1998 he returned to government as a Member of the National Assembly and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. In 2004, in addition to his position as foreign minister, he was appointed a deputy prime minister.
He retired from his post as foreign minister on 4 April 2016 after 17 years in office, though remained as a deputy prime minister.[9] He was the longest serving Cambodian foreign minister.
Hor Namhong is married, having five children.[10] His eldest son, Hor Sothoun, is Permanent Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and his two other sons serve as ambassadors: Hor Nambora as Ambassador to the United Kingdom[11] and Hor Monirath as Ambassador to Japan (current Secretary of State of the Ministry of Tourism).[12] [13]
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