Ieng Sary was born Kim Trang in 1930 southern Vietnam (Kampuchea Krom).

He was a brilliant student, especially in mathematics, and earned a scholarship to a prestigious high school, College Sisowath. A fervent nationalist, Ieng Sary organized in 1946 a student group called Liberation of Cambodia from French Colonialism. As the head of the movement, he led the first student protests in the country's history, and he also tried to organize a national strike to protest Sihanouk's rejection of the Democratic party's call for independence.

From 1971 to 1975 he served as special envoy of the National United Front of Kampuchea and of the Government of National Union of Kampuchea, and when the Khmer Rouge forces took over the government in 1975 he became deputy prime minister in charge of foreign affairs.

Since January 1979, when the government was ousted by Vietnamese troops, he has held the same post in the government-in-exile (Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea), which still claims to be the legitimate government of Kampuchea. (Under Construction)

Source: Current World Leader-Biography and News-November 1980