Greeting Message to the Rally of Koreans
Calling for the Signing of a Peace Agreement
Takashi Hiraoka
To everyone from SPARK who constantly fights to make a peaceful world, I would like to express my deepest respect and extend my greetings.
On July 16th, 1945, the nuclear explosion in the U.S.’ Alamo, followed by the nuclear bombings on August 6th in Hiroshima and August 9th in Nagasaki, began the nuclear age: humanity’s nightmare. The victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren’t limited to just Japanese people, but Korean, Chinese, and American people also became victims. The nuclear age does not discriminate based on gender, age, nationality, nor whether it is wartime or peacetime, and causes radiation damage to everyone. During the following 79 years, whether nuclear weapons have been used for military use or commercial use, they have become an entity that has humanity’s fate at its mercy.
The world is currently facing a historical turning point. There is no way of knowing when the wars in Ukraine and Gaza will end, and the concern of not knowing whether nuclear weapons will be used depending on the course of these wars is growing.
The atomic bomb victims, as the first victims of nuclear power’s military use and also people who have personally experienced the atrocities of nuclear weapons, have, to this day, consistently appealed for the destruction of nuclear weapons and the establishment of world peace. Furthermore, Korean atomic bomb victims have lives filled with the indescribable desperation from the hardships of being victim to both Japan’s colonial policies and the U.S.’ nuclear attacks.
The inhumanity of nuclear weapons lies not only in its being an indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction; there are also those who barely survived the explosions that are suffering from the aftereffects of radiation.
In spite of this, the nuclear weapon states are not giving up their nuclear weapons, continuing to have faith in nuclear deterrence and ignoring the international public opinion that urges them to destroy the nuclear weapons.
Although there are about 12,000 nuclear warheads in the world today, nuclear weapons cannot protect people’s lives nor their peace. Depending on nuclear deterrence will only result in a nuclear arms race. In addition, there are about 500 nuclear power plants in the world.
Objectively speaking, war must not occur, and it must not be initiated.
The cause of this resulting situation is in the U.S.’ nuclear policy. In 1946 at the first United Nations General Assembly, the issue of the international management of nuclear weapons was the main agenda. However, because the U.S. did not change its attitude towards nuclear monopoly, international management was not realized. After this, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, and China started the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and now it has also spread to India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.
Under these circumstances, the voice of the people seeking world peace with a sense of urgency moved international politics, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted in 2017. The fact that 70 countries have ratified this treaty gives us courage and hope. However, the Japanese government, relying on the U.S. 'nuclear umbrella,' has refused to join the treaty, and this reality has angered the citizens of Hiroshima.
The first step towards abolishing nuclear weapons starts with recognizing their inhumanity. The United States, to this day, has yet to acknowledge its responsibility for violating international humanitarian law by using nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 79 years ago.
The reason why Russia’s President Putin has repeatedly mentioned the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war is because the U.S. has justified its past use of atomic bombs and has not apologized for it.
Putin’s perspective must be that “The U.S. actually used nuclear weapons but has not even apologized. There is no reason for Russia to receive criticism.” However, this evasion of responsibility must not be accepted.
That is why we must hold the U.S. accountable for its atomic bombings. If the U.S. does not reflect on their wrongdoing and apologize for its use of atomic bombs, the nuclear weapons states will continue to possess nuclear weapons and a “nuclear-free world” will not be realized.
The U.S. is arguing that “At the time, Japan was the “evil” and we used the atomic bombs to defeat them. It was a justified act.” The logic of using nuclear weapons to defeat “evil” must not be tolerated.
However, I think that Japan is in a complicated situation where it must condemn the sins of the U.S. after presuming reflection on its past colonial rule and war responsibility.
In this regard, though position of Japanese victims is different from the one-sided Korean victims, it is possible for both Korean and Japanese victims to unite in holding the U.S. accountable for its atomic bombings, and I think that people from both Korea and Japan should unite around the victims in order to achieve a “nuclear-free world.”
Moving forward, I think that we should include the victims from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and push ahead with the movement.
But right now, the military tension on the Korean peninsula between the North and South is heightened like never before. The North-South confrontation might even block the road towards peace and reunification. Caught in the gap are the suffering victims. The victims are getting older and the number of survivors are decreasing every year.
We need to create a future together so that “future-oriented” does not stop as a slogan, by correctly sharing the unfortunate history between Japan and the Korean peninsula and making a genuine reconciliation.
To that end, let us move forward toward a 'nuclear-free world' in the form of solidarity with the victims. In particular, the most urgent task is to solidify peace in East Asia. I hope that the activities of the People's Tribunal will bring peace of mind to the victims, and open the prospect of abolishing nuclear weapons. Let us work together.
Greeting Message to the Rally of Koreans
Calling for the Signing of a Peace Agreement
Takashi Hiraoka
To everyone from SPARK who constantly fights to make a peaceful world, I would like to express my deepest respect and extend my greetings.
On July 16th, 1945, the nuclear explosion in the U.S.’ Alamo, followed by the nuclear bombings on August 6th in Hiroshima and August 9th in Nagasaki, began the nuclear age: humanity’s nightmare. The victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren’t limited to just Japanese people, but Korean, Chinese, and American people also became victims. The nuclear age does not discriminate based on gender, age, nationality, nor whether it is wartime or peacetime, and causes radiation damage to everyone. During the following 79 years, whether nuclear weapons have been used for military use or commercial use, they have become an entity that has humanity’s fate at its mercy.
The world is currently facing a historical turning point. There is no way of knowing when the wars in Ukraine and Gaza will end, and the concern of not knowing whether nuclear weapons will be used depending on the course of these wars is growing.
The atomic bomb victims, as the first victims of nuclear power’s military use and also people who have personally experienced the atrocities of nuclear weapons, have, to this day, consistently appealed for the destruction of nuclear weapons and the establishment of world peace. Furthermore, Korean atomic bomb victims have lives filled with the indescribable desperation from the hardships of being victim to both Japan’s colonial policies and the U.S.’ nuclear attacks.
The inhumanity of nuclear weapons lies not only in its being an indiscriminate weapon of mass destruction; there are also those who barely survived the explosions that are suffering from the aftereffects of radiation.
In spite of this, the nuclear weapon states are not giving up their nuclear weapons, continuing to have faith in nuclear deterrence and ignoring the international public opinion that urges them to destroy the nuclear weapons.
Although there are about 12,000 nuclear warheads in the world today, nuclear weapons cannot protect people’s lives nor their peace. Depending on nuclear deterrence will only result in a nuclear arms race. In addition, there are about 500 nuclear power plants in the world.
Objectively speaking, war must not occur, and it must not be initiated.
The cause of this resulting situation is in the U.S.’ nuclear policy. In 1946 at the first United Nations General Assembly, the issue of the international management of nuclear weapons was the main agenda. However, because the U.S. did not change its attitude towards nuclear monopoly, international management was not realized. After this, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France, and China started the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and now it has also spread to India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea.
Under these circumstances, the voice of the people seeking world peace with a sense of urgency moved international politics, and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted in 2017. The fact that 70 countries have ratified this treaty gives us courage and hope. However, the Japanese government, relying on the U.S. 'nuclear umbrella,' has refused to join the treaty, and this reality has angered the citizens of Hiroshima.
The first step towards abolishing nuclear weapons starts with recognizing their inhumanity. The United States, to this day, has yet to acknowledge its responsibility for violating international humanitarian law by using nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 79 years ago.
The reason why Russia’s President Putin has repeatedly mentioned the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war is because the U.S. has justified its past use of atomic bombs and has not apologized for it.
Putin’s perspective must be that “The U.S. actually used nuclear weapons but has not even apologized. There is no reason for Russia to receive criticism.” However, this evasion of responsibility must not be accepted.
That is why we must hold the U.S. accountable for its atomic bombings. If the U.S. does not reflect on their wrongdoing and apologize for its use of atomic bombs, the nuclear weapons states will continue to possess nuclear weapons and a “nuclear-free world” will not be realized.
The U.S. is arguing that “At the time, Japan was the “evil” and we used the atomic bombs to defeat them. It was a justified act.” The logic of using nuclear weapons to defeat “evil” must not be tolerated.
However, I think that Japan is in a complicated situation where it must condemn the sins of the U.S. after presuming reflection on its past colonial rule and war responsibility.
In this regard, though position of Japanese victims is different from the one-sided Korean victims, it is possible for both Korean and Japanese victims to unite in holding the U.S. accountable for its atomic bombings, and I think that people from both Korea and Japan should unite around the victims in order to achieve a “nuclear-free world.”
Moving forward, I think that we should include the victims from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and push ahead with the movement.
But right now, the military tension on the Korean peninsula between the North and South is heightened like never before. The North-South confrontation might even block the road towards peace and reunification. Caught in the gap are the suffering victims. The victims are getting older and the number of survivors are decreasing every year.
We need to create a future together so that “future-oriented” does not stop as a slogan, by correctly sharing the unfortunate history between Japan and the Korean peninsula and making a genuine reconciliation.
To that end, let us move forward toward a 'nuclear-free world' in the form of solidarity with the victims. In particular, the most urgent task is to solidify peace in East Asia. I hope that the activities of the People's Tribunal will bring peace of mind to the victims, and open the prospect of abolishing nuclear weapons. Let us work together.