Atomic bomb survivors renew anti-nuclear pledge at Nagasaki anniversary ceremony

On the eve of the 81st anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations convened a commemorative event in the city where it originated. Secretary general Jiro Hamasumi announced the group's renewed commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons as it approaches its 70th year since formation on August 10, 1956. The program featured a moment of silence, a poem read by a local high-school student, and performances by a Korean ethnic troupe, acknowledging the Korean victims of the bombings.

Representatives Shigemitsu Tanaka and 94-year-old co-chair Terumi Tanaka highlighted Japan's refusal to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons despite 100 nations having done so. International delegate Carlos Umana of the Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament warned that nuclear arms undermine international law and encourage aggression.