Obama on Friday became the first sitting US president to visit the site of the world’s first atomic bomb attack, bringing global attention both to survivors and to his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons.
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“We come to Hiroshima to ponder the bad forces unleashed in the not so distant past”.
An estimated 140,000 people – including a dozen captured American airmen and thousands of forced laborers from Korea – were killed in the world’s first atomic bombing at Hiroshima.
The city of Nagasaki was hit by a second nuclear bomb on 9 August, 1945, and Japan surrendered six days later.
Speaking at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, he came about as close as one might come to apologizing without actually saying the words and even hugged a survivor of the bombing.
Mr Obama said the memory of 6 August 1945 must never fade, but did not apologise for the United States attack – the world’s first nuclear bombing.
Shim Myoung-ja, who is 76, also was in Hiroshima when the city was leveled. Many survivors long for an apology, and there were small demonstrations nearby by protesters demanding one.
Obama is the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima as it was only after the end of former president Jimmy Carter’s term (1977-1981) that he visited Hiroshima in May 1984. “We come to mourn the dead”, he said.
By acknowledging the pain and suffering of these people, President Obama has attempted to prove that humanity can cross borders, and humility does not detract from strength.
“Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us”, Mr Obama said, adding such technology “requires a moral revolution as well”.
Obama’s visit followed a two-day summit with leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies in Ise-Shima in central Japan.
Ahead, see more photos of the historic visit.
During the ceremony, held before Obama’s visit to the memorial park, they called on him to visit the cenotaph for Korean victims and apologize for the atomic bombing. While holding banners that read “Get rid of all nukes immediately”, “Remove all USA bases from Okinawa” and “We won’t let you use military alliances to start your next war”, protesters also shouted “You’re not welcome here, Obama and Abe” and “Get out of Hiroshima”. In fact, the US continues to believe in the strategic value of nuclear weapons, as in essence does Japan – the only country to have suffered a nuclear attack – which relies on the nuclear umbrella provided by its ally. The objective of Obama’s visit was to reflect on and honor all those who had died during World War II.
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During Obama’s visit, he met with Abe to discuss ways to enhance bilateral relations over economic and security issues.
