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| President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the end of their joint news conference after their summit in Tokyo, March 16. Yonhap |
President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet with a group of Korean victims of the 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing during a visit to the city Friday, his office said.
Yoon will be the first Korean president to have such a meeting, which demonstrates his commitment to "continuing to resolve historical issues while at the same time pursuing a better future for the two countries," presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon said during a press briefing.
"This can be understood as symbolically demonstrating the commitment of Korea and Japan to not close the door on history, while opening the door to the future," he said.
Yoon is set to visit Hiroshima on Friday for a Group of Seven summit and a series of meetings, including one with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and another with Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden.
During the three-day trip, Yoon and Kishida also plan to pay a joint visit to a cenotaph for Korean A-bomb victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
Around 50,000 Koreans fell victim to the atomic bombing, including 30,000 killed, after many were taken to Japan to work as forced laborers during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, according to the Korea Atomic Bombs Victim Association. (Yonhap)
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