Cambodia–Vietnam Friendship Monument | Phnom Penh

Cambodia–Vietnam Friendship Monument | Phnom Penh

Built in the late 1970s, the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument was commissioned by the Vietnamese communists as symbol of Khmer-Vietnamese friendship following the liberation of Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge. Located in the middle of Hun Sen Park, near the Mekong River, the monument consists of two soldiers standing guard over a Cambodian woman holding a baby, on a plinth.

This monument celebrates the official friendship between the two countries and depicts soldiers in bass relief. The style of the figures has been described as 1930s ‘Soviet realism’. Though demonstrators were eventually dispersed by pro-government troops, many people still refer to this area as “Democracy Square.”