U.N. Chief Seeks Concrete Action for Nuke Disarmament

August 9, 2018

Nagasaki- U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for concrete action to break the deadlock in global talks on nuclear disarmament, at a ceremony on Thursday to mark the 73rd anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

"I convey my deepest respect and condolences to everyone here today, and to all the victims and survivors" of the atomic bombings of the southwestern Japan city, as well as Hiroshima, western Japan, Guterres said in a speech at the ceremony, held at Nagasaki Peace Park.

"Here in Nagasaki, I call on all countries to commit to nuclear disarmament and to start making visible progress as a matter of urgency," he said.

"Nuclear-weapon states have a special responsibility to lead" the global efforts for nuclear disarmament, he stressed.

In the closing days of World War II, Nagasaki was destroyed by a U.S. atomic bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after Hiroshima suffered the same fate.

This was the first time for a U.N. secretary-general to attend the annual Nagasaki peace ceremony. In 2010, then U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took part in the Aug. 6 peace memorial ceremony in Hiroshima, becoming the first U.N. chief to do so.

Nagasaki has been a "global inspiration for all those who seek to create a safer and more secure world," Guterres, who is from Portugal, said, while citing the city's deep political, cultural and religious ties with his country.

Hibakusha, or the survivors of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, "have become leaders for peace and disarmament here in Japan and around the world," he said.

"The hibakusha have raised their voices on behalf of the entire human family," Guterres said, praising them for continuing to bear witness with the aim of abolishing nuclear weapons. "There can be no more Hiroshimas, no more Nagasakis, and so no more hibakusha."

At a press conference held at the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims earlier on Thursday, Guterres said that the international society should do whatever it can so as not to create the next Nagasaki.

Guterres, who also visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, said he feels deep sorrow when he thinks about the suffering of people who experienced the atomic bombings.

He said he reconfirmed that nuclear disarmament is a very important issue for human beings.

The United Nations fully supports the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted in July last year, and is eager to see it come into effect, Guterres said.

A number of countries have signed the landmark treaty, but Japan, the world's only country attacked with nuclear weapons, has not.

Asked about Japan's failure to sign the treaty, Guterres said he knows that the nation has taken the initiative for nuclear nonproliferation on various occasions. Japan has contributed to nuclear disarmament from another aspect, he noted. Jiji Press