Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigns after just over a year

Vietnam's president, Vo Van Thuong, taking his oath during a National Assembly's meeting in Hanoi on March 2, 2023.[File,VOA]

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigned after a little over a year in the position, state media VN Express reported.

His resignation occurs amid an intense anti-corruption campaign that has hit the highest echelons of the Communist Party.

Thuong, 54, became president in March 2023, two months after his predecessor Nguyen Xuan Phuc resigned to take "political responsibility" for corruption scandals during the pandemic. He was the youngest president since modern-day Vietnam emerged from war in the mid-1970s.

The position of president in Vietnam is largely ceremonial and ranks third in the country's political hierarchy.