Yoon touts Kishida's visit to monument for S. Korean victims as 'courageous act'

President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and their spouses bow at the monument to South Korean victims of the 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Japan, Sunday. Yonhap

Yoon, Kishida pay tribute to S. Korean victims of Hiroshima atomic bombing

By Nam Hyun-woo

HIROSHIMA, Japan ― President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday paid tribute to South Korean victims of the 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in a symbolic gesture to transcend the two countries' historical issues and normalize their ties.

During a summit that followed, just two weeks after their previous meeting in Seoul, the leaders agreed that their visit was "a courageous act toward the future" and the two countries should cooperate to tackle various global challenges.

"Today, I and Prime Minister Kishida together paid a tribute to the monument," Yoon said during the summit. "It was about paying condolences to the South Korean victims of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and at the same time will be remembered as the prime minister's courageous act toward a peaceful future."

Kishida also said they were able to pray before the monument and it was "important not only for the relations between the two countries but also for world peace."

The summit was the third meeting between Yoon and Kishida in the past three months, and the prime minister said it "clearly shows the progress of the two sides' relations."

The leaders and their spouses visited the monument in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park at around 7:30 a.m., with Kishida and his wife waiting for Yoon and his wife in front of the monument. After the arrival of the latter, the four bowed together and laid flowers before the 4.5-meter stone monument, which faces toward the Korean Peninsula.

Ten South Korean survivors of the atomic bombing also paid their respects at the monument behind the leaders. After observing a moment's silence, the leaders bowed to the survivors.

The visit came amid Yoon's attendance at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Hiroshima. It was the first time for the two leaders to jointly pay tribute at the monument, and Yoon is the first South Korean president to do so. Kishida is the second sitting Japanese prime minister to pay tribute at the monument.

During the summit, the two leaders affirmed that the trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan should be strengthened amid the grave regional tensions of North Korea's escalating nuclear and missile threats, according to presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon.

The leaders also agreed that Seoul and Tokyo, which share universal values, should cooperate on various global agendas, and enhance such efforts on the occasion of the G7 Summit.

"The leaders stressed the importance of free and open international order based on rules of law, and called for countries cherishing freedom to join their efforts," Lee said.

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Yoon and Kishida's visit to the monument came as a gesture that symbolizes they are seeking to move past their countries' spats over history and set bilateral relations on a future-oriented course.

After taking office in May last year, Yoon has been making relentless efforts to restore relations with Japan for economic benefits through bilateral trade and a trilateral security cooperation involving the United States to counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.

The bilateral relations began to thaw after Seoul proposed a plan to let a South Korean public foundation compensate the South Korean victims of Japan's wartime forced labor without the direct involvement of the responsible Japanese firms.

Since then, Yoon and Kishida have visited each other and appear to be making attempts to transcend their respective countries' historical issues. Kishida, during his visit to Seoul earlier this month, drew attention when he said that his "heart aches" for Koreans who suffered under Japanese colonial rule.

"During the previous visit, Prime Minister Kishida said his heart aches for the forced labor victims who suffered painful and sorrow experiences under a harsh environment, and it echoed across the South Korean people," Yoon said during Sunday's summit. "I believe the prime minister's courage and decision of showing sincerity are very precious."

After the summit, the two leaders joined G7 leaders to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

President Yoon Suk Yeol shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during their summit at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Japan, Sunday. Yonhap

History of monument

The joint visit was seen as a meaningful step to move beyond the two countries' historical grievances and normalize their ties for future cooperation.

The exact number of South Korean victims of the Hiroshima bombing remains unknown, but Seoul believes that approximately 30,000 South Koreans died in the Aug. 6, 1945 bombing or afterward due to burns and the effects of residual radiation, according to a 2010 government report.

After the bombing, tragedy continued for surviving victims, as they suffered discrimination in job seeking, marriage and other fundamental aspects of life because of fears of radiation.

The monument was established in 1970 by South Korean associations near Hiroshima's Aioi Bridge because the city opposed the monument's establishment in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Talks for moving the monument into the memorial park began in the mid-1980s, and its relocation was decided in 1997 with the support of then-Hiroshima mayor Takashi Hiraoka. Hiraoka was a former journalist mostly writing about South Korean victims of the atomic bombing. The actual relocation took place in 1999.

Since then, a number of politicians have paid visits to the monument, including former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon in 2010.

As for Japan, Kishida is the second sitting prime minister to visit the monument. One of his predecessors, Keizo Obuchi paid his respects with a visit on Aug. 6, 1999, becoming the first Japanese prime minister to do so.

Obuchi is known for his proactive efforts to address historical issues between the two countries, including a 1998 Japan-South Korea joint declaration where he expressed remorse for the "horrendous damage and pain" Japan's colonial rule inflicted on the Korean people.

Prime Minister Kishida describes Hiroshima as his hometown. He was born to a family of politicians in Tokyo, but the family originated from Hiroshima and Kishida himself began his political career as a member of Japan's House of Representatives, representing Hiroshima's first district in 1993.