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Lee offers condolences to Korean atomic bomb victims ahead of 80th anniversary of Hiroshima bombing

Published: 05 Aug. 2025, 13:19

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a meeting at the presidential office in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on July 30. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]

President Lee Jae Myung on Tuesday offered his condolences to Korean atomic bomb victims, a day before Japan's Hiroshima marks the 80th anniversary of the devastating 1945 atomic bombing of the city.

In a Facebook post, Lee wrote, "I express my deepest condolences and sympathy to the victims of the atomic bombing and their families who were caught in the tumult of history and suffered unimaginable pain in a place that was not their homeland but in a foreign land.

"The two atomic bombs that dropped on Japan 80 years ago claimed countless lives in an instant," he said. "Our fellow Koreans in Japan also endured immense suffering, and the victims and their bereaved families have been suffering for a long time."

He noted that a special law enacted in 2017 to support the Korean victims laid the foundation for practical assistance but acknowledged that much remains to be done.

The government will continue efforts to "heal the scars left by the atomic bombings," Lee said.

Around 50,000 Koreans fell victim to the atomic bombing. 30,000 were killed, many of whom were brought 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