Peter Phan, Ky’s nephew, told The Associated Press that Ky died early Saturday at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he was being treated for some sort of respiratory complications.
One of his nation’s most colorful leaders, Ky served as prime minister of US-backed South Vietnam in the mid-1960s. He had been commander of South Vietnam’s air force when he assumed the post in 1965, the same year US involvement in the war escalated.
In power during some of the war’s most tumultuous times, he was a low-key but sometimes ruthless leader.