UN chief calls for nuclear disarmament

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Europe

01:09

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged global leaders to take concrete steps toward world nuclear disarmament when attending an annual ceremony on Thursday marking the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

"Here in Nagasaki, I call on all countries to commit to nuclear disarmament and to start making visible progress as a matter of urgency," Guterres said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech during a memorial ceremony to mark the 73rd anniversary of the second atomic bomb that was dropped by the United States on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. /VCG Photo

The UN chief noted that the efforts to denuclearize has been slowed down or "even come to a halt," adding that existing nuclear states are modernizing their arsenals.

He called for "no more Nagasaki, no more Hiroshima," hoping Nagasaki is the last place on Earth to suffer from nuclear devastation.

The UN chief in May launched a new disarmament agenda entitled "Securing Our Common Future," which focuses on three priorities: weapons of mass destruction, conventional weapons, and new battlefield technologies.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also gave a speech at the ceremony and he reaffirmed that Japan will uphold its three non-nuclear principles and continue to work in pursuit of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attend their joint news conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Japan, August 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

Guterres also expressed his support toward negotiations between the US and the DPRK on denuclearization during a joint press conference with Abe on Wednesday.

He added he fully supported the negotiations taking place “with the objective that we all share, to see a total denuclearization that is verifiable, that is irreversible, to make sure that North Korea (DPRK) can be a normal member of the international community in this region.”

Guterres's trip marks the first time for a UN secretary-general to attend the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony.

Flowers lays by visitors are seen in front of the Nagasaki Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan, August 9, 2018 during the 73rd anniversary of the second atomic bomb that was dropped by the United States on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. /VCG Photo

His predecessor, Ban Ki-moon, was the first to attend the anniversary event commemorating the Hiroshima atomic bombing, in 2010.