Eighty years after the U.S. nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed more than 50,000 Koreans and left countless others suffering, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) joined with Korean survivors’ groups to issue a renewed call for nuclear disarmament. ICAN Executive Director Melissa Parke visited South Korea to meet with the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims Association and the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims’ Descendants Association, honoring the overlooked suffering of Korean hibakusha.
In their joint statement, the groups emphasized the survivors’ decades-long struggle for recognition, compensation, and medical support. They urged all governments—including the Korean government, regional powers, and the United States—to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and work collaboratively to provide assistance to atomic bomb victims.
The statement also expressed concern over rising calls for South Korea to develop its own nuclear arsenal, warning that such moves increase the risk of nuclear proliferation and global instability. The groups stressed the urgent need for responsible leadership, dialogue, diplomacy, and adherence to international law to resolve conflicts peacefully.
They warned that as long as nuclear weapons exist, the risk of their use—by accident or deliberate action—remains inevitable, with catastrophic consequences. The only way to eliminate this threat is through complete nuclear disarmament under the framework of the TPNW.
The statement concludes with a united call on all governments to commit to the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
-Peace News Desk