The Vietnamese Scout Association () is a youth organization that was established in Vietnam and active between 1930 and 1975. The association was recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1957 to 1975. Because of the political situation and war in Vietnam, it was banned in communist North Vietnam after 1954 and in the entire nation after the communist victory following the fall of Saigon. It presently exists in exile, and is reforming within Vietnam itself. There are reports of clandestine Scouting activities in Vietnam dating from 1994 and 2002. Until WOSM recognition returned in 2019, Vietnam was the largest nation in population to have Scouting that is not recognized by the organization. History From its establishment in 1930, the Vietnamese Scout Association experienced many stages of development, and attracted many figures who later played important roles in the political stage of both North and South Vietnam, including North Vietnamese Minister of Defense Tạ Quang Bửu, Mayor of Hanoi Trần Duy Hưng, composer Lưu Hữu Phước, physician Tôn Thất Tùng, Võ Thành Minh, physician Phạm Ngọc Thạch, Vice Premier of South Vietnam Trần Văn Tuyên, physician Phạm Biểu Tâm, South Vietnamese Senator Trần Điền, and writer Cung Giũ Nguyên. 1920s to 1946 Scouting in Vietnam first started in the lycées for French children and upper-class Vietnamese children. Between 1927 and 1930, Vietnamese Scouting began to appear in northern Vietnam, most of them subordinate to the French Scouting groups. In September 1930, two Vietnamese athletes, Trần Văn Khắc and Tạ Văn Rục, started a Scout movement named Đồng tử quân in Hanoi. The members of the movement wore green neckerchiefs with red hem. It gradually spread to the surrounding areas. Trần Văn Khắc is generally accepted as the founder of Vietnamese Scouting. This first Vietnamese Scout program was heavily athletic. In 1932, Trần Văn Khắc went south to Cochinchina, and together with Lương Thái, Huỳnh Văn Diệp, and Trần Coln established the Cochinchinese Scout Association. During that time, Hoàng Ðạo Thúy was the General Secretary of the Annamese Scouting Association. Between 1933 and 1935, Vietnamese Scouting spread quickly among the population, as branches of the three main associations of French Scouts and Pionniers. Three branches of Vietnamese Scouting were established-Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Rover Scouts. André Lefèvre, chief of the Éclaireurs de France, set up a training camp for 60 Scoutmasters from all over French Indochina. At