Trần Trọng Kim (Vietnamese pronunciation: [t͡ɕən˨˩ t͡ɕawŋ͡m˧˨ʔ kim˧˧]; chữ Hán: 陳仲金; 1883 – December 2, 1953), courtesy name Lệ Thần ([le˧˨ʔ tʰən˨˩]; chữ Hán: 隸臣), was a Vietnamese scholar and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the short-lived Empire of Vietnam, a state established with the support of Imperial Japan in 1945 after Japan had seized direct control of Vietnam from Vichy France toward the end of World War II.

Kim was born in Nghi Xuân, Hà Tĩnh Province, in northern central Đại Nam (as Vietnam was known then) in 1883 during the Nguyen dynasty.

In the immediate decade afterwards, the province was the scene of a guerrilla movement led by Phan Đình Phùng that attempted to expel the French authorities.

Kim strongly praised Confucianism, and his book provoked much intellectual debate on the philosophy's place in Vietnamese society.

[3] His reputation in literary circles made Kim a leading figure in the Buddhist and Confucian associations, and in 1939, he was appointed to the Chamber of People's Representatives in Tonkin.

When Decoux implemented his second major purge of pro-Japanese Vietnamese in the autumn of 1943, Kim was reported to be on the list of the Sûreté (Criminal Investigation Department).

After briefly living at the Kenpeitai office, they became the guests of Dainan Kōshi, a Japanese business firm owned by Matsushita Mitsuhiro, which was known as a front for intelligence operations.

[9] By now, the Liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the fall of Vichy France meant that Japan could no longer depend on the French colonial administration to co-operate.

It was believed that Bảo Đại sent a message to Ngô Đình Diệm, who was then living under Japanese protection in Saigon, in asking him to form a government.

Kawamura told Kim that he was one of the "notables" invited by Emperor Bảo Đại to consult in Huế on the creation of the new independent government.

[9] According to his own account, Kim accepted the invitation to talk with Bảo Đại because Hoàng Xuân Hãn, a young friend, was also on the emperor's list.

The Phục quốc were connected to Phan Bội Châu and Cường Để,[4] two leading anti-colonial activists from the early 20th century who championed co-operation with Japan and pan-Asianism to expel French colonialism.

Kim had the chance to rule for only five months, and most of his policies were not implemented before the Viet Minh seized power following the Japanese collapse at the end of the Second World War.