Japanese, South Korean leaders shake hands, lay flowers, offer silence prayer at Monument to Korean A-bomb Victims, first sitting South Korean president to visit monument
May 22, 2023
by Hiromi Morita, Staff Writer
On May 21, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who attended an expanded meeting of the Hiroshima Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations, visited Peace Memorial Park and offered flowers to the Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb together with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. It was the first time for a sitting South Korean president to visit the monument.
After a handshake, President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida walked to the monument with serious expressions on their faces. Together with their wives, they offered bouquets of white lilies, phalaenopsis orchids and other flowers and prayed silently for more than 10 seconds. Ten Korean A-bomb survivors and second-generation survivors living in Hiroshima were also present.
After offering the flowers, the two leaders held a meeting in the International Conference Center Hiroshima located in the park. Prime Minister Kishida said, “I feel the joint offering of flowers was very important for relations between Japan and South Korea as well as for praying for world peace.” President Yoon evaluated the gesture, saying the event would be recorded both as a mourning to the victims and as Mr. Kishida’s courageous act to prepare a peaceful future.
On May 19, President Yoon met with Korean A-bomb survivors living in Japan and spoke with them for about 30 minutes. On behalf of the government, he deeply apologized that the government failed to be with them when they were facing hardship and pain.
The monument was erected in 1970 at the west end of the Honkawa Bridge near the place where Prince Lee Woo, a member of the Korean royal family who died as a result of the bombing, had previously been rescued after the blast. The monument was moved to Peace Memorial Park on the opposite side of the river in 1999.
(Originally published on May 22, 2023)
On May 21, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who attended an expanded meeting of the Hiroshima Summit of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations, visited Peace Memorial Park and offered flowers to the Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A-bomb together with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. It was the first time for a sitting South Korean president to visit the monument.
After a handshake, President Yoon and Prime Minister Kishida walked to the monument with serious expressions on their faces. Together with their wives, they offered bouquets of white lilies, phalaenopsis orchids and other flowers and prayed silently for more than 10 seconds. Ten Korean A-bomb survivors and second-generation survivors living in Hiroshima were also present.
After offering the flowers, the two leaders held a meeting in the International Conference Center Hiroshima located in the park. Prime Minister Kishida said, “I feel the joint offering of flowers was very important for relations between Japan and South Korea as well as for praying for world peace.” President Yoon evaluated the gesture, saying the event would be recorded both as a mourning to the victims and as Mr. Kishida’s courageous act to prepare a peaceful future.
On May 19, President Yoon met with Korean A-bomb survivors living in Japan and spoke with them for about 30 minutes. On behalf of the government, he deeply apologized that the government failed to be with them when they were facing hardship and pain.
The monument was erected in 1970 at the west end of the Honkawa Bridge near the place where Prince Lee Woo, a member of the Korean royal family who died as a result of the bombing, had previously been rescued after the blast. The monument was moved to Peace Memorial Park on the opposite side of the river in 1999.
(Originally published on May 22, 2023)
