HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday (April 11) ahead of a visit to the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park.
Kerry will be the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Hiroshima’s atomic bomb museum and pay respects at a memorial for victims of the 1945 U.S. nuclear attack, raising expectations that President Barack Obama may make an historic visit next month.
“We would like to put out a clear and strong message about peace from Hiroshima to the rest of the world,” Kishida said at his meeting with Kerry earlier in the morning.
“I will be pleased to visit later today the peace memorial park, with Fumio and with our other ministers, in a moment that I hope will underscore to the world the importance of peace and importance of strong allies working together to make the world safer and ultimately we hope to be able to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction,” Kerry said.
A senior U.S. official said on Sunday (April 10) that Kerry would not offer an apology for the United States’ use of the atomic bomb when he joins his counterparts from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan on the visit, which takes place on the sidelines of a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in the western Japanese city that was obliterated by the U.S. atomic bombing.
“This trip is not about the past, it’s about the present and the future particularly, and the strength of the relationship that we have built, the friendship that we share, the strength of our alliance, and a strong reminder of the imperative that we all have to work for peace for peoples everywhere,” Kerry added.
It will also be the first visit by foreign ministers from Britain and France, two other nuclear powers among the G7 nations.
The Group of Seven Industrialised Nations is expected to discuss nuclear disarmament at various meetings throughout the day.