Back تفجير قصر الحرية بجنوب فيتنام 1962 Arabic Cənubi Vyetnam Müstəqillik Sarayına bombalı hücum (1962) Azerbaijani Bombardeo del Palacio de la Independencia de Vietnam del Sur de 1962 Spanish Bombardement du palais de l'Indépendance French Pengeboman Istana Kemerdekaan Vietnam Selatan 1962 ID 1962년 독립궁 테러 Korean Bombardement op Zuid-Vietnamees onafhankelijkheidspaleis Dutch Bombardeio do Palácio da Independência do Vietnã do Sul em 1962 Portuguese Бомбардировка Дворца независимости Южного Вьетнама (1962) Russian 1962 Güney Vietnam Bağımsızlık Sarayı bombalı saldırısı Turkish
| 1962 South Vietnamese Independence Palace bombing | |
|---|---|
| Part of the War in Vietnam (1959–1963) in the Vietnam War | |
 Independence Palace before the bombing | |
| Location | Independence Palace, Saigon |
| Date | 27 February 1962 |
| Target | Ngô Đình Diệm |
Attack type | Airstrike |
| Weapons | 2 A-1 Skyraiders |
| Injured | 3 killed, 30 injured |
| Perpetrator | Nguyễn Văn Cử Phạm Phú Quốc |
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|---|---|---|
Prime Minister of the
State of Vietnam (1954–1955) President of South Vietnam (1955–1963)
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On 27 February 1962, the Independence Palace in Saigon, South Vietnam, was bombed by two dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots, Second Lieutenant Nguyễn Văn Cử and First Lieutenant Phạm Phú Quốc. The pilots targeted the building, the official residence of the President of South Vietnam, with the aim of assassinating President Ngô Đình Diệm and his immediate family, who acted as political advisors.
The pilots later said they attempted the assassination in response to Diệm's autocratic rule, in which he focused more on remaining in power than on confronting the Viet Cong (VC), a Marxist–Leninist guerilla army who were threatening to overthrow the South Vietnamese government. Cử and Quốc hoped that the airstrike would expose Diệm's vulnerability and trigger a general uprising, but this failed to materialize.
One bomb penetrated a room in the western wing where Diệm was reading but failed to detonate, leading the president to claim that he had "divine" protection. Except for Diệm's sister-in-law Madame Nhu, who suffered minor injuries, the Ngô family was unscathed. Three palace staff died, and 30 were injured. Afterward, Cử escaped to Cambodia, but Quốc was arrested and imprisoned.
In the wake of the airstrike, Diệm became hostile towards the American presence in South Vietnam. Diệm claimed that the American media was seeking to bring him down, and he introduced new restrictions on press freedom and political association. The media speculated that the United States would use the incident to justify the deployment of combat troops to South Vietnam; in the event, the U.S. remained circumspect. Domestically, the incident was reported to have increased plotting against Diệm by his officers.[1][2][3]