President Seok-Yeol Yoon and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan visit the ‘Cenotaph for Korean Atomic Bomb Victims’ in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park during the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, which will be held on the 19th and 21st. It is the first time for a Korean president to visit the monument and for the heads of state of Korea and Japan to pay their respects together.
At a joint press conference after the Korea-Japan summit with Prime Minister Kishida on the 7th, President Yoon said, “On the occasion of my visit to Hiroshima, the two leaders agreed to visit and pay respects together at the memorial stone for Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima Peace Park.” Prime Minister Kishida also said at a press conference, “I agreed with President Yoon in visiting the Peace Memorial Park (with President Yoon) in Hiroshima, the site of the atomic bombing (WCK World War), and visiting the memorial stone for Korean atomic bomb victims.”
The memorial stone for Koreans in Hiroshima was built in 1970 by the initiative of the Korean Residents in Japan, an organization of Korean residents in Japan. It was initially installed outside the Peace Memorial Park, which commemorates the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, but was moved to its current location within the park in 1999. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a place built near the site where the atomic bomb was dropped.
In 1945, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, there were about 100,000 Koreans living in this area. It is estimated that about 20,000 Koreans lost their lives in the atomic bombing. This accounts for one-tenth of the deaths from the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
When President Yoon initially visited Hiroshima to attend the G7 summit, he considered a plan to visit Hiroshima and meet Korean atomic bomb victims and their descendants. An official from the presidential office said, “Prime Minister Kishida first suggested that we commemorate together at the memorial stone for the Korean atomic bomb victims.
Previously, former US President Barack Obama, who had visited Hiroshima in May 2016, did not visit the memorial stone for Koreans while paying his respects at the Hiroshima memorial. The memorial stone for all victims and the Korean memorial stone are about 150 meters apart. Among high-ranking Korean dignitaries, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid his respects at the Korean memorial in 2010 during his tenure.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.