He described the memorial as “extraordinary” and called it a “gut-wrenching display that tugs at all your sensibilities as a human being”.
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“No final decision has been made, but aides have begun exploring the possibility of Obama spending several hours in Hiroshima in May”, after attending the Group of Seven summit in Mie Prefecture, the daily said.
Three days later a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, causing a similar number of deaths. An estimated 140,000 Japanese were killed in the two attacks.
The bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II are the only instances of the use of nuclear weapons by any country in history. The ruin, which is the only structure left standing near the bomb’s hypocenter, serves as a memorial to the people killed in the bombing. Before the ceremony, the ministers toured the peace museum, which features graphic images of the aftermath of the bombing.
Or, as Kerry said, “everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial”.
“Going through this museum was a reminder of the indisputable truth – the war must never be the first resort”.
Obama has spoken about the ‘debt of gratitude that all Americans owe to the greatest generation of Americans, ‘ Earnest said.
Japan Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida is a native of Hiroshima and, like many Japanese leaders, is a strong proponent of nuclear disarmament.
He said in Hiroshima on Monday, the visit was “not about the past”, but looking ahead to a possibly nuclear-free world-even though the USA has one of the largest nuclear arsenals in the world.
He added: “We will revisit the past and honour those who perished, (but) this trip is not about the past; it’s about the present and the future”.
Ms Hudson pointed out that the U.S. government’s 2012 defence budget included a commitment to renew the United States nuclear weapons arsenal.
Kerry traveled to Hiroshima from Afghanistan. Japan sees momentum toward nonproliferation as slowing, and foreign ministry officials are keen to put the issue at the top of the agenda at the Hiroshima gathering and are planning to release a statement.At 08:10 local time on 6 August 1945, the US B-29 bomber the Enola Gay dropped a uranium bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on Hiroshima. He also mentioned discussions on the possible deployment of an advanced missile defense shield in South Korea.
On Sunday, the seven ministers discussed issues including the regional problems posed by China’s increasing presence in the South China Sea.
Kerry stressed why he believes the G7 and and worldwide cooperation are important.
The United States continues to pursue “extensive and expensive long-term modernization program for its “remaining nuclear delivery systems, warheads and production”, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in June 2015″. “They’re not automatic. They require work, investment, leadership”.
“I think today, especially with President Obama, this question of a visit to Hiroshima is not just about the war in the past, but it’s really, as Secretary Kerry suggested, it’s really about the future”, Sheila Smith, a Japan expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, told NPR’s All Things Considered.
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The White House has not announced any such plans.
