Memorial service held for S. Korean A-bomb victims in Hiroshima
A memorial service was held on Tuesday for South Korean victims of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima in the closing days of World War II.
The 56th such event, which took place at the Peace Memorial Park in the capital city of Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, was hosted by the Hiroshima regional branch of Mindan, an organisation for South Koreans living in Japan.
The head of the Hiroshima branch pledged to make efforts to pass on the memory of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing to future generations and across the globe with wishes for world peace at heart.
Some 230 people attended the service, including bereaved family members, Joo Ho-young, who heads a league of South Korean lawmakers working to promote friendship with Japan, and Melissa Parke, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN.
A name list of the 2,824 victims, including 10 people who died in the past year, was placed in a monument at the ceremony venue. Joo said that efforts to realise peace and eliminate nuclear weapons must continue.
A 76-year-old participant who is a child of a victim of the atomic bombing said that politicians must understand that nuclear weapons are unrivalled in their cruelty.
Parke told reporters that just one nuclear weapon caused enormous devastation, adding that such weapons should never be used again.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
