HCMC — Nguyen Trong Nghia has been appointed chief of the General Department of Political Affairs of the Vietnam People’s Army and promoted to the rank of general, according to the decisions announced at a ceremony held in Hanoi City today, November 4.
Nghia is a 63-year-old Politburo member and a member of the Party Central Committee. He previously served as political commissar of Army Corps 4 and deputy chief of the General Department of Political Affairs.
Nghia became head of the Central Propaganda Commission in 2021 and joined the Politburo in 2024. He led the newly-formed Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission of the Party Central Committee from February 2025.
Meanwhile, General Trinh Van Quyet, the outgoing head of the General Department of Political Affairs of the Vietnam People’s Army, has been assigned to lead the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commission under a Politburo decision announced on the same day.
The Party Central Office said Quyet, 59, will leave the Central Military Commission as part of the personnel change.
Quyet became deputy chief of the General Department of Political Affairs in 2021, was appointed its chief in June 2024, joined the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee two months later, and was promoted to general in July 2025.
Two deputy ministers of defense promoted
Two deputy ministers of Defense, Nguyen Van Gau and Le Duc Thai, were also promoted from lieutenant general to colonel general.
Gau, 58, previously held senior political roles in Military Region 9 and at the General Department of Political Affairs. He later served as Party Secretary of Bac Giang Province and then Bac Ninh Province before returning to the Ministry of National Defense in September 2025.
Thai, 58, is a member of the Party Central Committee and a former commander of the Border Guard Force. He earlier led the Border Guard Command in Quang Ninh Province before serving as deputy minister of defense.
