[1] Phạm Hùng was born on June 11, 1912, in Vĩnh Long Province, in the Mekong River Delta of southern Vietnam.

[2] After the withdrawal of France and signature of Geneva Accords, Pham Hung was ordered in 1955 to Hanoi.

[3]: 100  He was closely allied with Lê Duẩn who by early 1964 had become the effective leader of North Vietnam.

Lê Duẩn and his supporters adopted a more belligerent approach to the armed struggle in South Vietnam in contrast to moderates such as Ho Chi Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp.

[3]: 108–10 In July 1967, after the mysterious death of Lê Duẩn ally, Nguyễn Chí Thanh, under the code name Bay Cuong, he took command of the Central Office for South Vietnam (COSVN).