GRUNK
Encyclopedia
The Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea
, usually known by the French acronym GRUNK, was a government-in-exile of Cambodia
, based in Beijing
, that was in existence between 1970 and 1976. Officially, it was briefly in control of Cambodia between 1975 and 1976.
The GRUNK was based on a coalition (the National United Front of Kampuchea
, or FUNK) between the supporters of exiled Head of State Prince Norodom Sihanouk
and members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea
(more commonly known as the Khmer Rouge
, an appellation that Sihanouk himself had given them). It was formed, with Chinese
backing, shortly after Sihanouk had been deposed in the Cambodian coup of 1970
; the few hundred Khmer Rouge insurgents had until that point been fighting Sihanouk's Sangkum
regime.
, his deputy Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak
, and In Tam
. Sihanouk, who was on
a trip abroad, initially called for a large-scale popular uprising against the coup via Beijing Radio on 23 March proclaiming a Government of National Union.
Sihanouk's own version of the Front's formation, published while it was still in existence, is rather different to versions given by later commentators. He stated that he had immediately decided to form a
Government of National Union while on the plane between Moscow
and Beijing, and that he was pleased to receive a message, dated three days after his subsequent radio broadcast, from the three "leading
Khmers Rouges [...] three of our outstanding intellectuals" - Hou Yuon
, Hu Nim
and Khieu Samphan
, all three of whom had been involved with Sihanouk's Sangkum in the 1960s.
In fact, it seems that Sihanouk arrived in Beijing uncertain as to what his next move should be, and it was only after a secret March 21
meeting with North Vietnamese premier Pham Van Dong
and Zhou Enlai
- the latter being a longstanding supporter of Sihanouk - that
he finally decided to ally himself with the Cambodian communists he had been fighting for the past decade; it seems likely that a desire for revenge on Lon Nol, pride, and possible suspicions of an American
role in the coup may have precipitated the decision. "I had chosen," Sihanouk commented later, "not to be with the Americans or
the communists [...] It was Lon Nol who obliged me to choose between them."
The GRUNK was officially announced on May 5: it was immediately recognised by China.
The formation of the GRUNK under Sihanouk offered the Khmer Rouge leadership a way of obtaining both international recognition and of enlisting the support of the Cambodian peasantry, who were overwhelmingly royalist and conservative, in their fight against Lon Nol's Khmer Republic
. Communist forces were rapidly swelled by rural Cambodians, attracted by Sihanouk's name and angry at the casualties caused by American bombing
. For Sihanouk, the support of the communists enabled him to continue his bid to regain power and to secure the backing of the North Vietnamese (whose forces occupied swathes of rural Cambodia) and of China. However, it is likely that Sihanouk was conscious that the more hardline elements of the Khmer Rouge would seek his eventual removal; his plan therefore depended on attracting American support for his 'national unity' movement. As the Nixon administration had made a conscious decision to back Lon Nol, this was an unlikely gamble.
, Sihanouk's
political adviser, who had several times served in this capacity both under the French colonial regime and as part of the Sangkum. Khieu Samphan - who remained within the 'liberated areas' of Cambodia,
allowing the GRUNK to claim not to be a government-in-exile - was deputy premier, minister of defense, and chief of the GRUNK's armed forces. Hou Yuon, a popular and relatively liberal figure amongst the
communists, was given several portfolios including that of minister for cooperatives, while Hu Nim was Minister of Information. Nouth, Samphan, Yuon and Nim were all men with a high profile and levels of popularity amongst the Cambodian populace, particularly the latter two, who had often spoken our in favour of the rights of the rural peasantry.
Command of the military was however in reality in the hands of Saloth Sar, whose existence in the Khmer Rouge's senior levels (along with that of Nuon Chea
, Son Sen
and Ieng Sary
) was kept
essentially secret. The Front's forces on the ground, the CPNLAF (Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces) were initially small, and most of the early fighting in the Cambodian Civil War
was in fact carried out by North Vietnamese forces with CPNLAF assistance.
Sihanouk's relationship with the Khmer Rouge leadership was always rather strained. While Yuon, Nim, and Samphan had a long experience of
being castigated and humiliated by Sihanouk during their years as Sangkum deputies and earlier, Sihanouk had a particular personal dislike for Ieng Sary, who in 1971 was assigned from Hanoi
with the
express mission of keeping Sihanouk under control. Sihanouk repeatedly (and quite incorrectly) accused him of being a North Vietnamese agent, and forced Sary to sit
through risque films obtained from the French embassy, revelling in his obvious discomfort. Sary, for his part, attempted to spread dissention in the royal entourage, and between Sihanouk and Penn Nouth.
Though Sihanouk was deliberately kept at a distance from the peasantry during the visit, the Khmer Rouge leadership seem to have been deeply troubled by the popular adulation with which his appearance was greeted. During 1973, Sihanoukist local officials and military commanders in the 'liberated' zones, as well as those cadres who had strong links to North Vietnam, began to be quietly removed: political indoctrination began to once more criticise Sihanouk as a feudal figure, and by 1974 forces in the hardline South-Western zone (under the command of Ta Mok
) began to identify themselves as 'Red Khmer' rather than as the Khmer Rumdo
, which had often been used up to that point. Repression and forced collectivisation began to increase in the 'liberated' areas, particularly in the western part of the country, where the anti-Vietnamese, nationalist elements of the Khmer Rouge were in control: Hou Yuon was to cause considerable difficulties for himself by protesting at the speed with which collectivisation was being carried out. The term "Royal" was increasingly removed from the GRUNK's proclamations.
In public, Sihanouk had remained optimistic about the nature of the GRUNK regime, stating (for the benefit of Western supporters) that Khieu Samphan "was a socialist with the same basic ideology as the Swedish
Prime Minister". However, the American government continued to refuse to deal with him, and in private he had serious concerns about the Khmer Rouge's intentions, stating "the Khmer Rouge will spit me out like a cherry stone" in an interview with an Italian journalist. The Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai warned Étienne Manac'h
, the French ambassador, that the Americans' disregard of Sihanouk, and their continued bombing in support of Lon Nol's troops, would result in a far more violent end to the war. Despite these warnings the US continued to ignore Sihanouk, and the Chinese - with some reluctance - gradually began to transfer their direct support to the Khmer Rouge alone.
on 17 April 1975, the communists were firmly in control of the GRUNK, and communications with Cambodia were effectively cut off. Sihanouk was not even directly informed of the fall of Phnom Penh; he initially went to Pyongyang
, but was persuaded to return as Cambodian Head of State, despite severe misgivings, by Zhou Enlai.
Sihanouk was given a ceremonial reception in Phnom Penh, but was deeply shocked by what he observed in the city. The death of his 'protector' Zhou Enlai in January 1976 weakened Sihanouk's position further: after hearing of Khmer Rouge human rights abuses via foreign radio, he 'retired' in April 1976. According to his own account, the Khmer Rouge leadership initially dispatched Sary to attempt to persuade him to stay, but Sihanouk insisted on resigning, and was subsequently kept under effective house arrest; Khieu Samphan became Head of State. Penn Nouth was similarly removed; the first plenary meeting of the Representative Assembly of Democratic Kampuchea
, held on April 11-13 1976, confirmed a previously largely unknown "rubber plantation worker" named Pol Pot as Prime Minister. Pol Pot was later revealed to be the former journalist and hardline Khmer Rouge cadre Saloth Sar.
Most of the remaining Sihanoukists in the GRUNK were soon to be executed, such as Sihanouk's leftist cousin Prince Norodom Phurissara
, who is thought to have been tortured and killed at a 're-education' centre in 1976, and Chea San, former GRUNK Minister of Justice, who was killed at Tuol Sleng; only Penn Nouth avoided a similar fate. Of the prominent Khmer Rouge members of the GRUNK, Hou Yuon had disappeared by 1975 and by 1976 was almost certainly dead. Communist intellectuals Hu Nim and Chau Seng were to be 'purged' and executed at Tuol Sleng in 1977; Khieu Samphan continued as Khmer Rouge Head of State, perhaps protected by his reputation for unswerving loyalty to Pol Pot, though his role was largely symbolic.
, Sihanouk was asked by the Khmer Rouge leadership to present the case of Democratic Kampuchea at the United Nations
. Sihanouk publicly broke with the Khmer Rouge, demanding that they be expelled from the UN as mass murderers. The Khmer Rouge attempt at establishing a new front organization - Patriotic and Democratic Front of the Great National Union of Kampuchea
- to re-legitimize their thoroughly discredited 'Democratic Kampuchea' regime met with little success at first.
By June 1982, however, Sihanouk and his FUNCINPEC
organisation had re-entered into an uneasy association with the Khmer Rouge in the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
, which still occupied the Cambodian seat at the United Nations. The third partner in the coalition was the 'third force' of Son Sann
's Khmer People's National Liberation Front
.
, usually known by the French acronym GRUNK, was a government-in-exile of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, based in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, that was in existence between 1970 and 1976. Officially, it was briefly in control of Cambodia between 1975 and 1976.
The GRUNK was based on a coalition (the National United Front of Kampuchea
National United Front of Kampuchea
The Front uni national du Kampuchéa, also called Front uni national khmer , often abbreviated as FUNK, was an organisation formed by the deposed King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk in 1970 while he was in exile in Beijing.-History:The front was supposed to be an umbrella organization of forces that...
, or FUNK) between the supporters of exiled Head of State Prince Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...
and members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea
Communist Party of Kampuchea
The Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as Khmer Communist Party , was a communist party in Cambodia. Its followers were generally known as Khmer Rouge .-Foundation of the party; first divisions:...
(more commonly known as the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
, an appellation that Sihanouk himself had given them). It was formed, with Chinese
backing, shortly after Sihanouk had been deposed in the Cambodian coup of 1970
Cambodian coup of 1970
The Cambodian coup of 1970 refers to the removal of the Cambodian Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, after a vote in the National Assembly on 18 March 1970. Emergency powers were subsequently invoked by the Prime Minister Lon Nol, who became effective head of state...
; the few hundred Khmer Rouge insurgents had until that point been fighting Sihanouk's Sangkum
Sangkum
The Sangkum Reastr Niyum , commonly known simply as the Sangkum, was a political organisation set up in 1955 by Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia...
regime.
Formation of the GRUNK
In March 1970, Sihanouk was deposed in a coup led by rightist members of his own government: the Prime Minister Lon NolLon Nol
Lon Nol was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister...
, his deputy Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak
Sisowath Sirik Matak
Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak was a member of the Cambodian royal family, the Varman dynasty.Sirik Matak was mainly notable for his involvement in Cambodian politics, particularly for his involvement in the 1970 right-wing coup against his cousin, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, and for his subsequent...
, and In Tam
In Tam
In Tam was a former Prime Minister of Cambodia. He served in that position from May 6, 1973 to December 9 1973, and had a long career in Cambodian politics.-Political career:...
. Sihanouk, who was on
a trip abroad, initially called for a large-scale popular uprising against the coup via Beijing Radio on 23 March proclaiming a Government of National Union.
Sihanouk's own version of the Front's formation, published while it was still in existence, is rather different to versions given by later commentators. He stated that he had immediately decided to form a
Government of National Union while on the plane between Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and Beijing, and that he was pleased to receive a message, dated three days after his subsequent radio broadcast, from the three "leading
Khmers Rouges [...] three of our outstanding intellectuals" - Hou Yuon
Hou Yuon
Hou Yuon was a veteran of the communist movement in Cambodia, and was of Sino-Khmer descent. A member of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as the Khmer Rouge, he served in several ministerial posts during the 1960s and 1970s.Yuon, who repeatedly clashed with other members of the Khmer...
, Hu Nim
Hu Nim
Hu Nim, alias "Phoas" was a Cambodian Communistintellectual and politician who held a number of ministerial posts.His long political career included spells with the Sangkum regime...
and Khieu Samphan
Khieu Samphan
Khieu Samphan was the president of the state presidium of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until 1979. As such, he served as Cambodia's head of state and was one of the most powerful officials in the Khmer Rouge movement, though Pol Pot was the group's true political leader and held the most...
, all three of whom had been involved with Sihanouk's Sangkum in the 1960s.
In fact, it seems that Sihanouk arrived in Beijing uncertain as to what his next move should be, and it was only after a secret March 21
meeting with North Vietnamese premier Pham Van Dong
Pham Van Dong
Phạm Văn Đồng was an associate of Ho Chi Minh. He served as prime minister of North Vietnam from 1955 through 1976, and was prime minister of a unified Vietnam from 1976 until he retired in 1987.- Early life :...
and Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
- the latter being a longstanding supporter of Sihanouk - that
he finally decided to ally himself with the Cambodian communists he had been fighting for the past decade; it seems likely that a desire for revenge on Lon Nol, pride, and possible suspicions of an American
role in the coup may have precipitated the decision. "I had chosen," Sihanouk commented later, "not to be with the Americans or
the communists [...] It was Lon Nol who obliged me to choose between them."
The GRUNK was officially announced on May 5: it was immediately recognised by China.
The formation of the GRUNK under Sihanouk offered the Khmer Rouge leadership a way of obtaining both international recognition and of enlisting the support of the Cambodian peasantry, who were overwhelmingly royalist and conservative, in their fight against Lon Nol's Khmer Republic
Khmer Republic
The Khmer Republic or République Khmère, was the republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on October 9, 1970. The Khmer Republic was disestablished in 1975 and was followed by the totalitarian communist state known as Democratic Kampuchea.-Background:Formally declared on October...
. Communist forces were rapidly swelled by rural Cambodians, attracted by Sihanouk's name and angry at the casualties caused by American bombing
Operation Arc Light
Operation Arc Light was the 1965 deployment of B-52D Stratofortresses as conventional bombers from bases in the US to Guam to support ground combat operations in Vietnam...
. For Sihanouk, the support of the communists enabled him to continue his bid to regain power and to secure the backing of the North Vietnamese (whose forces occupied swathes of rural Cambodia) and of China. However, it is likely that Sihanouk was conscious that the more hardline elements of the Khmer Rouge would seek his eventual removal; his plan therefore depended on attracting American support for his 'national unity' movement. As the Nixon administration had made a conscious decision to back Lon Nol, this was an unlikely gamble.
Composition
The government was headed by Sihanouk as Head of State. The Prime Minister was lawyer and veteran centrist politician Penn NouthPenn Nouth
Samdech Penn Nouth was a Cambodian politician. He served in the French colonial administration, then took active part in Cambodian politics, was several times a Prime Minister of Cambodia as part of the Sangkum regime of Prince Norodom Sihanouk...
, Sihanouk's
political adviser, who had several times served in this capacity both under the French colonial regime and as part of the Sangkum. Khieu Samphan - who remained within the 'liberated areas' of Cambodia,
allowing the GRUNK to claim not to be a government-in-exile - was deputy premier, minister of defense, and chief of the GRUNK's armed forces. Hou Yuon, a popular and relatively liberal figure amongst the
communists, was given several portfolios including that of minister for cooperatives, while Hu Nim was Minister of Information. Nouth, Samphan, Yuon and Nim were all men with a high profile and levels of popularity amongst the Cambodian populace, particularly the latter two, who had often spoken our in favour of the rights of the rural peasantry.
Command of the military was however in reality in the hands of Saloth Sar, whose existence in the Khmer Rouge's senior levels (along with that of Nuon Chea
Nuon Chea
Nuon Chea , also known as Long Bunruot , is a Cambodian former communist politician and former chief ideologist of Khmer Rouge. He was commonly known as "Brother Number Two" second in command to Pol Pot who was leader during the Cambodian Genocide 1975-1979...
, Son Sen
Son Sen
Son Sen was a Cambodian Communist politician and soldier. A member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kampuchea/Party of Democratic Kampuchea, the Khmer Rouge, from 1974 to 1992, Sen oversaw the Party's security apparatus, including the Santebal secret police and the notorious...
and Ieng Sary
Ieng Sary
Ieng Sary was a powerful figure in the Khmer Rouge. He was the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979 and held several senior positions in the Khmer Rouge until his defection to the government in 1996....
) was kept
essentially secret. The Front's forces on the ground, the CPNLAF (Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces) were initially small, and most of the early fighting in the Cambodian Civil War
Cambodian Civil War
The Cambodian Civil War was a conflict that pitted the forces of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and their allies the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Viet Cong against the government forces of Cambodia , which were supported by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam The Cambodian...
was in fact carried out by North Vietnamese forces with CPNLAF assistance.
Sihanouk's relationship with the Khmer Rouge leadership was always rather strained. While Yuon, Nim, and Samphan had a long experience of
being castigated and humiliated by Sihanouk during their years as Sangkum deputies and earlier, Sihanouk had a particular personal dislike for Ieng Sary, who in 1971 was assigned from Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
with the
express mission of keeping Sihanouk under control. Sihanouk repeatedly (and quite incorrectly) accused him of being a North Vietnamese agent, and forced Sary to sit
through risque films obtained from the French embassy, revelling in his obvious discomfort. Sary, for his part, attempted to spread dissention in the royal entourage, and between Sihanouk and Penn Nouth.
The Khmer Rouge takeover
In the wake of CPNLAF military successes in March 1973, Sihanouk made a visit to the 'liberated' areas, appearing in photographs with Samphan, Yuon, and Hu Nim (as well as with Saloth Sar, though it is likely Sihanouk was unaware of the latter's seniority). The US initially dismissed the photographs as fakes, pointing out that the three senior cadres - known as the "Three Ghosts", as they had previously disappeared in the late 1960s and were widely presumed to have been murdered by Sihanouk's police - were thought to be dead. Later, movie film of the visit was released, which seemed to confirm that the "Three Ghosts" were in fact alive.Though Sihanouk was deliberately kept at a distance from the peasantry during the visit, the Khmer Rouge leadership seem to have been deeply troubled by the popular adulation with which his appearance was greeted. During 1973, Sihanoukist local officials and military commanders in the 'liberated' zones, as well as those cadres who had strong links to North Vietnam, began to be quietly removed: political indoctrination began to once more criticise Sihanouk as a feudal figure, and by 1974 forces in the hardline South-Western zone (under the command of Ta Mok
Ta Mok
Ta Mok , which means "Grandfather Mok" in Khmer, was the nom de guerre of Chhit Choeun , a senior figure in the leadership of the Khmer Rouge...
) began to identify themselves as 'Red Khmer' rather than as the Khmer Rumdo
Khmer Rumdo
The Khmer Rumdo , also spelt Khmer Rumdos or Khmer Rumdoh were one of several groups of guerrillas operating within the borders of Cambodia during the Cambodian Civil War of 1970–1975...
, which had often been used up to that point. Repression and forced collectivisation began to increase in the 'liberated' areas, particularly in the western part of the country, where the anti-Vietnamese, nationalist elements of the Khmer Rouge were in control: Hou Yuon was to cause considerable difficulties for himself by protesting at the speed with which collectivisation was being carried out. The term "Royal" was increasingly removed from the GRUNK's proclamations.
In public, Sihanouk had remained optimistic about the nature of the GRUNK regime, stating (for the benefit of Western supporters) that Khieu Samphan "was a socialist with the same basic ideology as the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
Prime Minister". However, the American government continued to refuse to deal with him, and in private he had serious concerns about the Khmer Rouge's intentions, stating "the Khmer Rouge will spit me out like a cherry stone" in an interview with an Italian journalist. The Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai warned Étienne Manac'h
Étienne Manac'h
Etienne Manac'h ; b. 3 February 1910 in Plouigneau, Brittany - d. 1992) was a French career diplomat and author.-Early life:...
, the French ambassador, that the Americans' disregard of Sihanouk, and their continued bombing in support of Lon Nol's troops, would result in a far more violent end to the war. Despite these warnings the US continued to ignore Sihanouk, and the Chinese - with some reluctance - gradually began to transfer their direct support to the Khmer Rouge alone.
After the fall of Phnom Penh
By the time of the Khmer Rouge's entry into Phnom PenhPhnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
on 17 April 1975, the communists were firmly in control of the GRUNK, and communications with Cambodia were effectively cut off. Sihanouk was not even directly informed of the fall of Phnom Penh; he initially went to Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, but was persuaded to return as Cambodian Head of State, despite severe misgivings, by Zhou Enlai.
Sihanouk was given a ceremonial reception in Phnom Penh, but was deeply shocked by what he observed in the city. The death of his 'protector' Zhou Enlai in January 1976 weakened Sihanouk's position further: after hearing of Khmer Rouge human rights abuses via foreign radio, he 'retired' in April 1976. According to his own account, the Khmer Rouge leadership initially dispatched Sary to attempt to persuade him to stay, but Sihanouk insisted on resigning, and was subsequently kept under effective house arrest; Khieu Samphan became Head of State. Penn Nouth was similarly removed; the first plenary meeting of the Representative Assembly of Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
, held on April 11-13 1976, confirmed a previously largely unknown "rubber plantation worker" named Pol Pot as Prime Minister. Pol Pot was later revealed to be the former journalist and hardline Khmer Rouge cadre Saloth Sar.
Most of the remaining Sihanoukists in the GRUNK were soon to be executed, such as Sihanouk's leftist cousin Prince Norodom Phurissara
Norodom Phurissara
Prince Norodom Phurissara was a prominent leftist Cambodian politician of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, who held a number of ministerial posts...
, who is thought to have been tortured and killed at a 're-education' centre in 1976, and Chea San, former GRUNK Minister of Justice, who was killed at Tuol Sleng; only Penn Nouth avoided a similar fate. Of the prominent Khmer Rouge members of the GRUNK, Hou Yuon had disappeared by 1975 and by 1976 was almost certainly dead. Communist intellectuals Hu Nim and Chau Seng were to be 'purged' and executed at Tuol Sleng in 1977; Khieu Samphan continued as Khmer Rouge Head of State, perhaps protected by his reputation for unswerving loyalty to Pol Pot, though his role was largely symbolic.
Events after the fall of Democratic Kampuchea
After the Vietnamese invasion of 1978, the defeat of the Khmer Rouge and the subsequent establishment of the People's Republic of KampucheaPeople's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...
, Sihanouk was asked by the Khmer Rouge leadership to present the case of Democratic Kampuchea at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. Sihanouk publicly broke with the Khmer Rouge, demanding that they be expelled from the UN as mass murderers. The Khmer Rouge attempt at establishing a new front organization - Patriotic and Democratic Front of the Great National Union of Kampuchea
Patriotic and Democratic Front of the Great National Union of Kampuchea
The Patriotic and Democratic Front of the Great National Union of Kampuchea was a Kampuchean mass organization set up by the Communist Party of Kampuchea on August 21, 1979 after the fall of Democratic Kampuchea to Vietnamese troops and the subsequent proclamation of the People's Republic of...
- to re-legitimize their thoroughly discredited 'Democratic Kampuchea' regime met with little success at first.
By June 1982, however, Sihanouk and his FUNCINPEC
Funcinpec
FUNCINPEC is a royalist political party in Cambodia. Before the 2008 election, FUNCINPEC and the Cambodian People's Party formed a coalition government, although FUNCINPEC's significance has decreased steadily since 1998, when it had an equal relationship with the CPP in the coalition.FUNCINPEC is...
organisation had re-entered into an uneasy association with the Khmer Rouge in the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea
The Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea was a coalition government in exile composed of three Cambodian political factions: Prince Norodom Sihanouk's Funcinpec party, the Party of Democratic Kampuchea and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front formed in 1982, broadening the de...
, which still occupied the Cambodian seat at the United Nations. The third partner in the coalition was the 'third force' of Son Sann
Son Sann
Son Sann was a Cambodian politician and anti-communist resistance leader. Born in Phnom Penh, he held the office of Prime Minister in 1967-68. A devout Buddhist, he fathered seven children and was married....
's Khmer People's National Liberation Front
Khmer People's National Liberation Front
The Khmer People's National Liberation Front was a political front organized in 1979 in opposition to the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea regime in Cambodia...
.