'Gukje Hyeonin Hoeui' 3rd Meeting Concludes... Kishida Urges "Unity on Nuclear Disarmament Resolution"

Held for Two Days in Nagasaki, Japan... "Nagasaki Must Be the Last Atomic Bombed Site"

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasized the need to rally strong political will from around the world for nuclear disarmament at the 3rd meeting of the "International Genin Conference," which concluded on the 9th in Nagasaki, Japan.

According to Kyodo News, Prime Minister Kishida stated at the closing session of the two-day International Genin Conference that "it is more important than anything else to promote realistic and practical efforts to raise the momentum of the international community" regarding nuclear disarmament. He added, "The division within the international community over nuclear disarmament has deepened, and fundamental challenges that must be overcome are piling up."

Prime Minister Kishida of Japan.
Photo by Yonhap News

The International Genin Conference was realized through the initiative of Prime Minister Kishida, whose electoral district includes Hiroshima, the site where a nuclear weapon was dropped, and held its first meeting last December. Fifteen members, including nuclear-armed countries such as the United States, Russia, and China, as well as non-nuclear-armed countries like Germany and New Zealand, are participating as committee members to discuss the path toward a "world without nuclear weapons."

Takashi Shiraishi, chairman of Kumamoto Prefectural University and the chairperson of the conference, said at a press conference after the meeting that they discussed challenges arising from changes in the latest security environment, the impact of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), and ethics and norms.

He said, "We agreed on the recognition that Nagasaki was the last site to be bombed."

The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and another atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9 of the same year.

The International Genin Conference plans to hold meetings twice a year after next year and prepare recommendations before the next Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2026.