In Central Vietnam, the Kontum massif is subdivided from North to South into: (i) Kham Duc, (ii) Ngoc Linh, (iii) Kan Nack complexes. The Kham Duc complex consists of metapelite, metapsammite, paragneiss, metagabbro, amphibolite, serpentinized ultramafic, and orthogneiss blocks. The southern part of this complex experienced an Early Paleozoic crustal melting event responsible for migmatites and anatectic granites. The Ngoc Linh complex, the largest one, is formed by metatexite and granitoid enclosing blocks of eclogite, high pressure (HP) granulite, orthogneiss, metagabbro, amphibolite, granodiorite, and migmatite. The Kan Nack complex is formed by migmatites with (ultra) high temperature (U)HT granulite, charnockites and enderbites. The three metamorphic complexes are intruded by per-aluminous granite, and subordinate mafic plutons. In spite of local variations, the foliation of the Ngoc Linh complex defines a bulk domal structure, and the stretching lineation consistently trends NW-SE. The NW-SE lineation is also observed in the tectonically overlying the Kan Nack complex. The Ngoc Linh and Kan Nack complexes are interpreted here as parts of a metamorphic core complex (MCC), or “Ngoc Linh MCC”, exhumed by a top-to-the-NW detachment fault. Along the northern margin of the Ngoc Linh MCC, upright folds with E-W striking axes, and E-W stretching lineation deform the foliation. These structures are developed in a transpressive regime coeval with the activity of plurikilometer-scale dextral strike-slip faults. Zircon and monazite U/Pb radiometric datings document a 250–240 Ma age for the crustal melting, and the top-to-the-NW ductile shearing coeval with the formation of the Ngoc Linh MCC. This extensional tectonics is followed by a dextral strike-slip faulting, at ca 240–230 Ma, before the emplacement of the two-mica granitic plutons at ca 240–224 Ma. Furthermore in the Ngoc Linh and Kan Nack complexes, zircon and monazite yield U-Pb Early Paleozoic ages. In the Kham Duc complex, a ca 460 Ma MP/MT, garnet-biotite-staurolite-kyanite metamorphism, followed by migmatites at ca 450 Ma, is also recognized. The 420–400 Ma age of the Dai Loc plutonic suite, and the 450–425 Ma age of the Dien Binh calc-alkaline granodiorite document an Early Paleozoic event. The Early Paleozoic mafic and ultramafic masses of the Hiep Duc complex are ophiolites included into a metasedimentary matrix. Thus, the Kham Duc complex is interpreted as a tectonic mélange formed during a collisional orogeny that subsequently underwent crustal melting giving rise to the migmatites. A part of the Early Paleozoic rocks are enclosed as xenoliths in the Triassic migmatite of the Ngoc Linh MCC. These petrologic, structural, and chronological features allow us to propose the following geodynamic evolution for the Kontum massif. During the Early Paleozoic, a continental collision, which was accommodated by a north-directed subduction of a southern block (S. Vietnam, or Viet-Cambodia block) below a northern block (N. Vietnam or Viet-Lao block), occurred along the Tam Ky-Phuoc Son suture. During the Early Triassic, at ca 250–245 Ma, the S. Vietnam block experienced a crustal melting giving rise to the Ngoc Linh MCC that reworked the Early Paleozoic orogen. Lastly, during the Middle Triassic, the dextral faulting superimposed upon the Ngoc Linh migmatite. The geodynamic significance of the Kontum massif is discussed in the general framework of Indochina- South China relationships. The Early Paleozoic collision in Vietnam is viewed as the driving force responsible for the development of the intracontinental orogeny of S. China. In order to account for the important heat flow required for the formation of UHT metamorphic rocks, a possible interaction between the SCB-Indochina collision, and the Emeishan mantle plume is proposed.