Jin-tae Shim: Testimony at the Side Event of the 3rd MSP of the TPNW
From March 3rd to 7th, the 3rd Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) took place. During the conference, alongside the official meetings with government delegations from state parties, numerous side events were held by anti-nuclear peace organizations from various countries.
On March 4th (Tuesday), the International Organizing Committee hosted a side event on the theme of a People's Tribunal at the Church Center for the United Nations. The event, which was attended by around 60 participants, featured testimonies from victims participating as plaintiffs in the tribunal. Discussions also focused on promoting the 2026 People's Tribunal and strategies for organizing participant involvement.
Below is the testimony of one of the plaintiffs, Jin-tae Shim.
I am Sim Jin-tae, the head of the Hapcheon branch of the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association. I was born in 1943 in Ebamachi, Hiroshima, Japan.
My parents lived in their hometown of Hapcheon but were forcibly taken to Japan due to exploitation during the Japanese colonial rule. My mother worked in a munitions factory.
Most people forcibly taken from Hapcheon were assigned to Hiroshima, Japan. That is why Hapcheon is called the “Hiroshima of Korea.” My parents and I were exposed to radiation in Hiroshima.
We survived by a miracle and returned to Korea, where my grandfather lived. However, due to poverty, survival was so difficult that we went hungry more often than we ate.
Since 2001, I have been serving as the head of the Hapcheon branch of Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association, and I have witnessed the suffering of Korean atomic bomb victims caused by the aftereffects of radiation exposure for over 20 years.
I want to question the U.S. government, which dropped the atomic bomb in 1945, why the Koreans, who were forcibly mobilized as subjects of a colonizing power, had to die from bombings and suffer from mysterious illnesses. Why, why should we die like this?
Evenp now, 80 years after the atomic bomb was dropped, neither the U.S. government nor the Japanese government has provided any explanation for the bombing. Having lived through the horrors of war, the resentment in my heart, and in the hearts of the descendants of Korean atomic bomb victims, is beyond words.
For any reason, civilians who are innocent should not die or be injured because of war.
The Korean government has also neglected and cold-shouldered the Korean atomic bomb victims and their descendants, who are still suffering from the immense pain caused by the bombing.
The fact that there are victims but no perpetrators is something I believe is impossible to accept in a lifetime.
That is why I am participating in the International People’s Tribunal on the Atomic Bomb, seeking to question the illegality of the atomic bombings, demand recognition of U.S. responsibility, and ask for an apology and compensation.
If the U.S. acknowledges that dropping the atomic bomb was wrong, which country would ever use nuclear weapons again?
Though there is a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, nuclear-armed countries, including the U.S., and countries such as South Korea and Japan that rely on U.S. nuclear weapons, have not signed it.
As someone who understands the aftereffects of the atomic bomb, I believe there can be no peace in this world as long as nuclear weapons exist. We, the Korean atomic bomb victims, will continue to oppose the development and use of nuclear weapons until they are made obsolete, and we will demand an apology and compensation for the victims.
This is not only a matter of justice for the past but also a crucial task for creating a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and a world of peace. Therefore, I am dedicating the rest of my life to creating a ‘world without nuclear weapons.’
As long as nuclear weapons exist, there will be no peace in this world.
Jin-tae Shim: Testimony at the Side Event of the 3rd MSP of the TPNW
From March 3rd to 7th, the 3rd Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) took place. During the conference, alongside the official meetings with government delegations from state parties, numerous side events were held by anti-nuclear peace organizations from various countries.
On March 4th (Tuesday), the International Organizing Committee hosted a side event on the theme of a People's Tribunal at the Church Center for the United Nations. The event, which was attended by around 60 participants, featured testimonies from victims participating as plaintiffs in the tribunal. Discussions also focused on promoting the 2026 People's Tribunal and strategies for organizing participant involvement.
Below is the testimony of one of the plaintiffs, Jin-tae Shim.
I am Sim Jin-tae, the head of the Hapcheon branch of the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association. I was born in 1943 in Ebamachi, Hiroshima, Japan.
My parents lived in their hometown of Hapcheon but were forcibly taken to Japan due to exploitation during the Japanese colonial rule. My mother worked in a munitions factory.
Most people forcibly taken from Hapcheon were assigned to Hiroshima, Japan. That is why Hapcheon is called the “Hiroshima of Korea.” My parents and I were exposed to radiation in Hiroshima.
We survived by a miracle and returned to Korea, where my grandfather lived. However, due to poverty, survival was so difficult that we went hungry more often than we ate.
Since 2001, I have been serving as the head of the Hapcheon branch of Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association, and I have witnessed the suffering of Korean atomic bomb victims caused by the aftereffects of radiation exposure for over 20 years.
I want to question the U.S. government, which dropped the atomic bomb in 1945, why the Koreans, who were forcibly mobilized as subjects of a colonizing power, had to die from bombings and suffer from mysterious illnesses. Why, why should we die like this?
Evenp now, 80 years after the atomic bomb was dropped, neither the U.S. government nor the Japanese government has provided any explanation for the bombing. Having lived through the horrors of war, the resentment in my heart, and in the hearts of the descendants of Korean atomic bomb victims, is beyond words.
For any reason, civilians who are innocent should not die or be injured because of war.
The Korean government has also neglected and cold-shouldered the Korean atomic bomb victims and their descendants, who are still suffering from the immense pain caused by the bombing.
The fact that there are victims but no perpetrators is something I believe is impossible to accept in a lifetime.
That is why I am participating in the International People’s Tribunal on the Atomic Bomb, seeking to question the illegality of the atomic bombings, demand recognition of U.S. responsibility, and ask for an apology and compensation.
If the U.S. acknowledges that dropping the atomic bomb was wrong, which country would ever use nuclear weapons again?
Though there is a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, nuclear-armed countries, including the U.S., and countries such as South Korea and Japan that rely on U.S. nuclear weapons, have not signed it.
As someone who understands the aftereffects of the atomic bomb, I believe there can be no peace in this world as long as nuclear weapons exist. We, the Korean atomic bomb victims, will continue to oppose the development and use of nuclear weapons until they are made obsolete, and we will demand an apology and compensation for the victims.
This is not only a matter of justice for the past but also a crucial task for creating a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and a world of peace. Therefore, I am dedicating the rest of my life to creating a ‘world without nuclear weapons.’
As long as nuclear weapons exist, there will be no peace in this world.