Note: Content originally published by ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons).
By ICAN | August 12, 2025
The neglected Korean victims of the US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Shim Jin-tae, a first-generation Korean A-bomb victim, testifies. He is also a plaintiff in the A-Bomb Tribunal.
When the United States attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons in August 1945, it was not only Japanese citizens they killed. There were tens of thousands of Koreans in the two cities and it is estimated by survivors' organisations that more than 50,000 Koreans were numbered among those killed. In total, 215,000 had died as a result of the attacks by the end of 1945. Most were civilians, including many children.
Korea was a colony of Japan at the time Tokyo went to war with the United States in the 1940s, and many Koreans were conscripted to serve as soldiers and forced labourers, or had moved to Japan for economic reasons.
The Korean hibakusha, the Korean survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have campaigned for recognition, compensation and medical support for decades and to this day the response of the authorities has been inadequate. Shim Jin-tae, an 83-year-old hibakusha who now lives in Hapcheon, a small county in South Korea known as Korea’s Hiroshima, says: “No one takes responsibility. Not the country that dropped the bomb. Not the country that failed to protect us. America never apologised. Japan pretends not to know. Korea is no better. They just pass the blame – we’re left alone.”
The threat that nuclear weapons will be used again in conflict is increasing with rising nuclear tensions over Ukraine, in the Middle East, between India and Pakistan, as well as on the Korean peninsula. Yet, instead of taking action to reduce this risk, the 9 nuclear-armed states are spending billions on modernising, and in some cases expanding, their arsenals. All while maintaining their threat to use nuclear weapons that is inherent to nuclear deterrence.
The communities affected by the use of nuclear weapons in war and in so-called “tests” all over the world, including in Korea, have organised themselves and pushed for governments to provide healthcare, support and compensation for people they have harmed. These communities are also at the forefront of global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons through the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Shim Jin-tae, who is Head of the Hapcheon branch of the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association, described their experience in a speech to the third meeting of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in March this year: “Over 70,000 Koreans were exposed to the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, even to this day, no proper investigation has been conducted to determine the true extent of the damage, and we still do not know how many Koreans were affected." He continued: “Even those who survived and returned to their hometowns lived the rest of their lives in pain, suffering from the neglect of the government, social ostracism, crushing poverty, and the aftereffects of the atomic bomb. Even now, the South Korean government continues to exclude the descendants of atomic bomb victims from special support laws and has completely ignored the voices of the victims.”
The Executive Director of ICAN, Melissa Parke, who met Mr Shin at the UN in March, visited Korean hibakusha in Hapcheon and Busan following the 80th anniversary commemorations of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki where she attended a service at the Korean victims’ monument in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park.
Melissa Parke said: “The Korean hibakusha have campaigned for recognition, compensation and medical support for decades and they are still waiting. They are owed an apology, compensation and support. The Korean survivors, like their Japanese counterparts, have suffered 80 years of harm. In addition to getting the support and recognition they deserve, their calls for abolition of nuclear weapons must be heeded by all the nuclear-armed countries, so nuclear weapons are eliminated before they eliminate us.”
See Also: ICAN and Korean A-bomb survivors groups issue joint call for all countries to join UN Nuclear Ban Treaty
Note: Content originally published by ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons).
By ICAN | August 12, 2025
The neglected Korean victims of the US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Shim Jin-tae, a first-generation Korean A-bomb victim, testifies. He is also a plaintiff in the A-Bomb Tribunal.
When the United States attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons in August 1945, it was not only Japanese citizens they killed. There were tens of thousands of Koreans in the two cities and it is estimated by survivors' organisations that more than 50,000 Koreans were numbered among those killed. In total, 215,000 had died as a result of the attacks by the end of 1945. Most were civilians, including many children.
Korea was a colony of Japan at the time Tokyo went to war with the United States in the 1940s, and many Koreans were conscripted to serve as soldiers and forced labourers, or had moved to Japan for economic reasons.
The Korean hibakusha, the Korean survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have campaigned for recognition, compensation and medical support for decades and to this day the response of the authorities has been inadequate. Shim Jin-tae, an 83-year-old hibakusha who now lives in Hapcheon, a small county in South Korea known as Korea’s Hiroshima, says: “No one takes responsibility. Not the country that dropped the bomb. Not the country that failed to protect us. America never apologised. Japan pretends not to know. Korea is no better. They just pass the blame – we’re left alone.”
The threat that nuclear weapons will be used again in conflict is increasing with rising nuclear tensions over Ukraine, in the Middle East, between India and Pakistan, as well as on the Korean peninsula. Yet, instead of taking action to reduce this risk, the 9 nuclear-armed states are spending billions on modernising, and in some cases expanding, their arsenals. All while maintaining their threat to use nuclear weapons that is inherent to nuclear deterrence.
The communities affected by the use of nuclear weapons in war and in so-called “tests” all over the world, including in Korea, have organised themselves and pushed for governments to provide healthcare, support and compensation for people they have harmed. These communities are also at the forefront of global efforts to abolish nuclear weapons through the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Shim Jin-tae, who is Head of the Hapcheon branch of the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association, described their experience in a speech to the third meeting of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in March this year: “Over 70,000 Koreans were exposed to the atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, even to this day, no proper investigation has been conducted to determine the true extent of the damage, and we still do not know how many Koreans were affected." He continued: “Even those who survived and returned to their hometowns lived the rest of their lives in pain, suffering from the neglect of the government, social ostracism, crushing poverty, and the aftereffects of the atomic bomb. Even now, the South Korean government continues to exclude the descendants of atomic bomb victims from special support laws and has completely ignored the voices of the victims.”
The Executive Director of ICAN, Melissa Parke, who met Mr Shin at the UN in March, visited Korean hibakusha in Hapcheon and Busan following the 80th anniversary commemorations of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki where she attended a service at the Korean victims’ monument in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park.
Melissa Parke said: “The Korean hibakusha have campaigned for recognition, compensation and medical support for decades and they are still waiting. They are owed an apology, compensation and support. The Korean survivors, like their Japanese counterparts, have suffered 80 years of harm. In addition to getting the support and recognition they deserve, their calls for abolition of nuclear weapons must be heeded by all the nuclear-armed countries, so nuclear weapons are eliminated before they eliminate us.”
See Also: ICAN and Korean A-bomb survivors groups issue joint call for all countries to join UN Nuclear Ban Treaty