Peace Day in Cambodia Date in the current year: December 29, 2025

Cambodia has had a turbulent history since gaining independence from France in 1953. From 1968 to 1975, the country was embroiled in a civil war between the government forces of King Norodom Sianhouk and the Khmer Rouge (members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea). The war ended with the fall of the Kingdom of Cambodia and the establishment of the Khmer Rouge regime.

Three years later, Cambodia was invaded and conquered by Vietnam. A faction that had split from the Khmer Rouge led the pro-Vietnamese government of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea, while the Khmer Rouge, King Norodom Sihanouk’s party and the Khmer People’s National Liberation Front formed the internationally recognized government in exile.

During the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge fought against the occupation government. In 1991, the Paris Peace Agreements finally ended the occupation. After a two-year transition period, the Kingdom of Cambodia was restored with Norodom Sihanouk as king. However, the Khmer Rouge had not participated in the peace process and continued to fight against the new Cambodian government.

A low-intensity conflict between Khmer Rouge guerrillas and the Cambodian army continued until 1997. It was intensified by the 1997 Cambodian coup, in which first prime minister, Norodom Ranariddh (the second son of King Norodom Sihanouk), was ousted by the second prime minister, Hun Sen. The new government, formed after the 1998 national elections, took a more active approach to ending the insurgency by forcing the Khmer Rouge to surrender and finally brought political stability to Cambodia.

The Khmer Rouge insurgency effectively ended with the fall of the last Khmer Rouge stronghold and the death of Pol Pot on April 15, 1998. However, the small remnant of Khmer Rouge forces continued to fight against the government. The civil war in Cambodia officially ended on December 29, 1998, when the government implemented a “win-win policy” developed by Hun Sen. The policy guaranteed the preservation of the lives, careers, and property of the Khmer Rouge who voluntarily surrendered to government forces.

Cambodia used to celebrate the anniversary of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements as a public holiday. In 2020, it was removed from the country’s calendar of national holidays, but a number people supported its reinstatement. Instead, December 29 was declared Win-Win Policy Day in 2022 to highlight the importance of this policy in the final resolution of the Cambodian conflict. Win-Win Policy Day was not a national holiday.

On January 1, 2024, the government of Cambodia renamed Win-Win Policy Day to Peace Day and declared it a national holiday. The new holiday commemorates the definitive end of the Khmer Rouge insurgency and the beginning of the era of peace in Cambodia, and celebrates those who worked tirelessly to achieve that peace.