U.S. President Barack Obama is heading to Hiroshima on Friday alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Mr. Obama is the first U.S. sitting president to visit the city where the first atomic bomb was dropped. A day before the event, China is calling Japan to dispose chemical weapons.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner Mr. Obama said he is going to Hiroshima, to remark again “the very real risks that are out there”. He added that governments should contribute to build institutions of peace, in order to reduce possibilities of a future nuclear war.

The U.S. is the only nation that has ever used a nuclear weapon against another country. Image Credit: Sputnik News
The U.S. is the only nation that has ever used a nuclear weapon against another country. Image Credit: Sputnik News

He mentioned efforts of his administration to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, including deals with Iran and Russia, said reporters at The Associated Press (AP). In March, the president urged the U.S. to eliminate nuclear weapons as a “moral obligation”.

The U.S. is the only nation that has ever used a nuclear weapon against another country. On August 6, 1945 the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, marking the final stage of World War II (WWII).

“Part of the reason I’m going is because I want to underscore the sense of urgency that we all should have. It’s not only a reminder of the terrible toll of WWII and the death of innocents across continents, but it’s also to remind ourselves that the job’s not done,” Obama said, according to AP.

U.S. and Russia among the states with more nuclear weapons and enriched uranium Hiroshima

Russia and the United States are the countries with more atomic bombs worldwide. On March, the White House released data on the national inventory of highly enriched uranium. It was the first time in 15 years, that the nation publicly released reports about uranium.

By 2013, there were 499 metric tons of highly enriched uranium in the country. It has been used for nuclear weapons, naval propulsion and nuclear energy, added the White House. Inventories in 1996 where of 740.7 metric tons.

Obama made a speech in 2009 saying that he sees a future without nuclear weapons. By that time, North Korea had conducted the launch of long-range rockets. The U.S. president has referred to the Hiroshima bombing as an event that changed the world’s direction.

The United States is a military ally of South Korea, which has been menaced by the Kim Jong-un’s administration. Donald Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Grand Old Party has criticized the budget spent by the United States, to protect allies.

Trump said that Japan and South Korea should be permitted to develop nuclear weapons, in the context of a possible nuclear attack from North Korea.

China has requested Japan to dispose chemical weapons remaining from WWII

China’s General Fan Changlong visited on Thursday the Haeberling, a region in northeastern Japan that holds an estimated 330,000 buried chemical bombs. He urged the country to “boost investment and accelerate the elimination of the weapons” according to the Chinese Defense Ministry.

A spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry, told AP that Fan’s visit is not related to Obama’s plans in Hiroshima. Japan is expected to eradicate all buried chemical weapons by 2022. 

Source: The Associated Press