US Secretary Kerry’s visit to Hiroshima Peace Park

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made a historic visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan on Monday for the first time as an incumbent American secretary. It has been 71 years since the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb in the city on Aug. 6, 1945.

Kerry visited the memorial park along with other G7 leaders including Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio on Monday morning, during his trip to Japan for attending the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting.

Before the scheduled event, Kerry called it "a moment that I hope will underscore to the world the importance of peace and the 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."

He also told Kishida that Korea and Japan will revisit the past and honor those who perished, (but) this trip is not about the past; it's about the present and the future." He noted that the visit was not a sign of apology for the past. Kishida praised the event as “a step closer to a nuclear-free world.”

Experts predict that Obama may follow the footsteps of Kerry during his scheduled travel to Japan for the G7 leaders summit for 2 days from May 26, if the public opinion remains positive.

On the other hand, some worry that it might lead to highlighting Japan’s status as a victim of the WW2 instead of a war criminal, especially when the Abe administration seeks to revise the "peace constitution" of the country, established as a consequence of losing the war.

The G7 later issued the Hiroshima Declaration and the statement of the chair after discussing the issue of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. The declaration strongly condemned North Korea’s recent series of nuclear tests and missile launches saying that “This task is made more complex by the deteriorating security environment in a number of regions, and in particular by North Korea's repeated provocations.”

도쿄=서영아특파원 sya@donga.com