Hiroshima Summit closes with Prime Minister Kishida’s pledge, “Nuclear-free future steadily advancing”
May 22, 2023
by Koji Higuchi, Staff Writer
The summit meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven industrialized nations), which was held for the first time in Hiroshima, closed its three-day session on May 21. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who served as chair of the G7, held a press conference in Peace Memorial Park, located in Naka Ward, and emphasized the significance of G7 leaders gathering in the atomic-bombed city to compile the Hiroshima Vision, the first document dedicated to nuclear disarmament. He said, “We need to make steady progress toward a future of a world without nuclear weapons to avoid disastrous outcome at all costs.”
Mr. Kishida, who guided the leaders of the G7 and other invited countries through the Peace Memorial Museum twice, said they could share in the pledge for peace. He explained the G7 leaders have a grave responsibility to protect the lives of their people under the severe security environment and a noble responsibility to never lose sight of the ideal of a world without nuclear weapons and to continue in its pursuit.
In addition, he expressed his belief by saying, “When all 8 billion people of the world become citizens of Hiroshima, there will be no more nuclear weapons on earth.” Citing the need for realistic nuclear disarmament, he said, “We must now reaffirm this fundamental statement, which concerns the survival of the human race: ‘We must not use nuclear weapons, we must not threaten with nuclear weapons.’”
On the final day of the summit, the leaders of eight countries invited to the expanded G7, including India, which possesses nuclear weapons, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres toured the Peace Memorial Museum and offered a wreath of flowers in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, the first incumbent South Korean president to visit Hiroshima, also mourned at the Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb. At the main venue, the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima, located in Minami Ward, the leaders of the invited countries and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined the discussions on topics such as the situation in Ukraine.
During the summit, a total of nine discussions were held on topics such as climate change and the global economy. Six outcome documents were issued, including the “Hiroshima Vision,” which mentioned the importance of the record of non-use of nuclear weapons and the importance of continuing the declining trend in the number of nuclear weapons, as well as the overall Leaders’ Statement. The next summit will be held in Italy in June 2024.
The leaders of the G7 and invited countries left for home from Hiroshima Airport, in Mihara City, or Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, in Iwakuni City, on May 21. Most of the traffic restrictions in the central area of Hiroshima and on Sanyo Expressway will end on May 21 but will be enforced in some sections on the morning of May 22 due to the movement of the remaining leaders.
(Originally published on May 22, 2023)
The summit meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven industrialized nations), which was held for the first time in Hiroshima, closed its three-day session on May 21. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who served as chair of the G7, held a press conference in Peace Memorial Park, located in Naka Ward, and emphasized the significance of G7 leaders gathering in the atomic-bombed city to compile the Hiroshima Vision, the first document dedicated to nuclear disarmament. He said, “We need to make steady progress toward a future of a world without nuclear weapons to avoid disastrous outcome at all costs.”
Mr. Kishida, who guided the leaders of the G7 and other invited countries through the Peace Memorial Museum twice, said they could share in the pledge for peace. He explained the G7 leaders have a grave responsibility to protect the lives of their people under the severe security environment and a noble responsibility to never lose sight of the ideal of a world without nuclear weapons and to continue in its pursuit.
In addition, he expressed his belief by saying, “When all 8 billion people of the world become citizens of Hiroshima, there will be no more nuclear weapons on earth.” Citing the need for realistic nuclear disarmament, he said, “We must now reaffirm this fundamental statement, which concerns the survival of the human race: ‘We must not use nuclear weapons, we must not threaten with nuclear weapons.’”
On the final day of the summit, the leaders of eight countries invited to the expanded G7, including India, which possesses nuclear weapons, and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres toured the Peace Memorial Museum and offered a wreath of flowers in front of the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, the first incumbent South Korean president to visit Hiroshima, also mourned at the Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb. At the main venue, the Grand Prince Hotel Hiroshima, located in Minami Ward, the leaders of the invited countries and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joined the discussions on topics such as the situation in Ukraine.
During the summit, a total of nine discussions were held on topics such as climate change and the global economy. Six outcome documents were issued, including the “Hiroshima Vision,” which mentioned the importance of the record of non-use of nuclear weapons and the importance of continuing the declining trend in the number of nuclear weapons, as well as the overall Leaders’ Statement. The next summit will be held in Italy in June 2024.
The leaders of the G7 and invited countries left for home from Hiroshima Airport, in Mihara City, or Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, in Iwakuni City, on May 21. Most of the traffic restrictions in the central area of Hiroshima and on Sanyo Expressway will end on May 21 but will be enforced in some sections on the morning of May 22 due to the movement of the remaining leaders.
(Originally published on May 22, 2023)
