UN Secretary-General Visiting Hiroshima: "Serious Nuclear Threat Rapidly Spreading Worldwide"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] United Nations Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres stated on the 6th that "serious nuclear threats are rapidly spreading from the Middle East to the Korean Peninsula, and due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, to various parts of the world," according to reports by Kyodo News and NHK on the same day.

Secretary-General Guterres attended and laid a wreath at the 77th Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Victims Memorial Ceremony and Peace Memorial Ceremony held at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on the morning of the same day.

He strongly criticized Russia's nuclear threats, saying, "It is absolutely unacceptable for nuclear-armed states to acknowledge the possibility of nuclear war."

He urged nuclear-armed states to pledge a "no first use" policy, meaning they would not use nuclear weapons unless attacked first by an enemy's nuclear strike.

The memorial and peace ceremonies, held to mark the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan during World War II, were attended by about 3,200 people including Secretary-General Guterres, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, atomic bomb survivors, and bereaved families.

This was the first visit by a UN Secretary-General to Hiroshima in 12 years.

Secretary-General Guterres said, "The world must never forget what happened in Hiroshima," and added, "The legacy of the atomic bomb survivors will never disappear," urging the international community to make efforts toward nuclear disarmament.

Prime Minister Kishida, whose electoral district includes Hiroshima, stated, "Now, when momentum toward a world without nuclear weapons is said to be retreating, it is precisely the time to appeal to the world not to repeat the disaster."

He reaffirmed Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles of "not producing, not possessing, and not introducing nuclear weapons," and called for the maintenance and strengthening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), but according to Kyodo News, he did not mention the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Although Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic bombings in war, it has not joined the NPT and did not send a representative even as an observer to the first meeting of the States Parties held in June this year, drawing criticism from atomic bomb victims and others.

The memorial ceremony was attended by representatives from a record 98 countries and the European Union (EU), but Russia was excluded from the invitation list due to its invasion of Ukraine.

Attendees observed a moment of silence at 8:15 a.m., the time when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, to mourn the victims.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.