Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang died on Friday at the age of 62 due to illness, according to state media.
The report said he died at a hospital in Hanoi after suffering from a serious illness. Quang had rarely be seen in public in recent months, arousing speculation about his health or a power struggle in the Vietnamese leadership.
In August, Quang missed a number of key events, including the anniversary of the founding of the People's Public Security Force and a meeting with the Turkish prime minister.
Quang was from Quang Thien Commune, Kim Son District, Ninh Binh Province in northern Vietnam. He was a professor with a Ph.D in Law, and held the positions of Director General of Department of Security Advisory, Director General of Directorate of Security and Deputy Minister of Public Security.
He graduated from the People's Police University and the School of Foreign Languages under the Ministry of Home Affairs, now the Ministry of Public Security.
During this period, he also worked as deputy head of the Central Steering Committee on Corruption Prevention and Control.
In 2011, he was appointed Minister of Public Security. In the same year, he was promoted from lieutenant general to colonel general, and to general a year later. He was a member of the Party Central Committee, a member of the Politburo, the Party's decision-making body, and a delegate of the National Assembly. He served as Vietnam's president from April 2, 2016.
Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the most powerful official in the country, recently stepped up diplomatic activities as if to cover for the apparent absence of the president, who typically takes on such duties.
Quang had been seen as a likely candidate to replace Trong, who is 73, a fact that is fueling speculation that he could hand over power next year.
sources: Reuters.com, asia.nikkei.com, vnexpress.net