Day 4 started a testimony by Mr. Lee Jong Keun, a second generation Korean resident in Japan and an a-bomb survivor (Hibakusha). He told us his experience of suffering “double discrimination” for being a Korean and a Hibakusha. According to the website of Hiroshima City,  it is said that the population of Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped was about 350,000. The figure includes people from Japan’s colonies: Korea, Taiwan, and the Chinese continent. Some of them were conscripted laborers. A few foreign students from China and Southeast Asia and U.S. prisoners of war were also in the city. 

In the afternoon, we had sessions with Dr. Keiko Nakamura and Dr. Tatsujiro Suzuki from RECNA (Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Nagasaki University). 

In the session with Dr. Nakamura, she posed us an question, which was whether we have any alternative for nuclear deterrence in order to maintain peace and security. One of her suggestions was to expand the area of Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones. What do you think?

Please refer below link for her suggestion. 

http://www.recna.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/recna/bd/files/Summary_E.pdf

In the session with Dr. Suzuki, he mentioned, “Since there are no legal binding in intergovernmental negotiations, there are no verifications. This situation will not lead to confidence-building among nations”. Thus, he suggested it would be necessary to reduce the role of nuclear weapons and enhance regional confidence building through Track 2 process, and to improve transparency through multilateral approaches. 

<Schedule of Day4> 

Korean Hibakusha(Testimony and lecture) (Mr. Lee Jong Keun and Dr. Yuko Takahashi)

NW Free Zones and Northeast Asia (Dr. Nakamura Keiko, RECNA)

Era of New Nuclear Threats:Two Minutes to Midnight (Dr. Tatsujiro Suzuki, RECNA)

Exchange with Hiroshima youth groups @Hachidori-sha(Hummingbird café)