Tokyo, May 10 (RHC)-- As president of the only country to have used nuclear weapons, Barack Obama will make an historic visit to Hiroshima, Japan, where Washington first dropped the atomic bomb nearly 71 years ago.
Obama will visit the site of the world’s first nuclear bombing and meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "to highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," the White House said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes wrote on the social media website Medium on Tuesday that the president will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a site built in the memory of the people who lost their lives in the bombing on August 6, 1945 during World War II.
About 140,000 people were killed in the bombing which was followed by another U.S. atomic bombing on the port city of Nagasaki, killing about 70,000 people on August 9, 1945.
Obama’s visit to the city would have enormous symbolic importance; however, the White House has made it clear he will not apologize to the Japanese people for carrying out the atrocity. The U.S. president's security advisor Ben Rhodes wrote on his blog: “Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future.”
