Jeong-soon Park: 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, Jeong-soon Park.
I was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1934 and was exposed to the atomic bomb in Uchikoshi-cho, Hiroshima. This area was about 2 kilometers away from the epicenter.
That day, as usual, the air raid alarm sounded. Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light, like a lightning bolt, blazed before my eyes. The wind rose, and a deafening explosion shook the entire world.
The house collapsed instantly with the explosion, and our family was buried under the debris. In the chaos, my mother pulled us out, one by one. I was 12 years old at the time.
The collapsing beams hit my head, causing it to bleed, and I also injured my back, a pain that continues to this day. When we managed to get out from under the rubble, we saw the townspeople screaming and wailing. The streets were filled with the bodies of the dead, people severely burned, and others who had lost limbs.
In the midst of this confusion, our family hurriedly returned to Korea. However, the GHQ (General Headquarters) of the allied powers, who occupied Japan at the time, limited the amount of money we could carry to just 1,000 yen.
This small amount was not enough for even a few months of living expenses in Korea. Proper medical treatment was impossible. But it wasn’t just poverty that tormented us. Having been born and lived my entire life in Japan, I couldn’t speak Korean.
In Japan, we were discriminated against and looked down upon as Koreans. But when we returned to Korea, we were also despised and called “Japanese” by those around us.
Now, at 92 years old, I have lived through 80 years of suffering, sadness, anger, and frustration after losing my parents and siblings to the effects of the atomic bomb.
And now, seeing my children also suffering from illness and mental anguish, I can no longer stay silent. The United States, which dropped the atomic bomb, must acknowledge its responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation to the Korean atomic bomb victims and their descendants.
I believe that being public with my own statements now is a way to fulfill my duty as a first-generation survivor to the second and third generations of the atomic bomb victims.
That is why I participated as a plaintiff in the International People's Tribunal. I sincerely hope that through this tribunal, our future children and others will live in a world without war and nuclear weapons.
Jeong-soon Park: 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, Jeong-soon Park.
I was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1934 and was exposed to the atomic bomb in Uchikoshi-cho, Hiroshima. This area was about 2 kilometers away from the epicenter.
That day, as usual, the air raid alarm sounded. Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light, like a lightning bolt, blazed before my eyes. The wind rose, and a deafening explosion shook the entire world.
The house collapsed instantly with the explosion, and our family was buried under the debris. In the chaos, my mother pulled us out, one by one. I was 12 years old at the time.
The collapsing beams hit my head, causing it to bleed, and I also injured my back, a pain that continues to this day. When we managed to get out from under the rubble, we saw the townspeople screaming and wailing. The streets were filled with the bodies of the dead, people severely burned, and others who had lost limbs.
In the midst of this confusion, our family hurriedly returned to Korea. However, the GHQ (General Headquarters) of the allied powers, who occupied Japan at the time, limited the amount of money we could carry to just 1,000 yen.
This small amount was not enough for even a few months of living expenses in Korea. Proper medical treatment was impossible. But it wasn’t just poverty that tormented us. Having been born and lived my entire life in Japan, I couldn’t speak Korean.
In Japan, we were discriminated against and looked down upon as Koreans. But when we returned to Korea, we were also despised and called “Japanese” by those around us.
Now, at 92 years old, I have lived through 80 years of suffering, sadness, anger, and frustration after losing my parents and siblings to the effects of the atomic bomb.
And now, seeing my children also suffering from illness and mental anguish, I can no longer stay silent. The United States, which dropped the atomic bomb, must acknowledge its responsibility, apologize, and provide compensation to the Korean atomic bomb victims and their descendants.
I believe that being public with my own statements now is a way to fulfill my duty as a first-generation survivor to the second and third generations of the atomic bomb victims.
That is why I participated as a plaintiff in the International People's Tribunal. I sincerely hope that through this tribunal, our future children and others will live in a world without war and nuclear weapons.