Barack Obama to make historic visit to Hiroshima

Barack Obama will visit Hiroshima on his trip to Japan later this month, making him the first sitting US president to visit the site of the world's first atomic bombing in 1945 during the second World War.

Mr Obama's trip to the city would "highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," the White House said in a statement on Tuesday, confirming his visit after months of speculation.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe will accompany Mr Obama on the Hiroshima visit which will take place on the US president's trip to Japan for the G-7 leaders' summit in Ise-Shima from May 25th to 27th.

Mr Obama is expected to deliver a speech on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons during his visit. This will be the president's 10th trip to Asia. He is also visiting Vietnam en route to Japan.

The American nuclear attack on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 killed 140,000 people and along with the bombing of another Japanese city Nagasaki a few days later brought about the end of the war.

Former Democrat US president Jimmy Carter visited Hiroshima but after he left the White House.

Ben Rhodes, the White House’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting, said that Mr Obama would talk about the significance of the site and the events that occurred there on the visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

“He will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future,” Mr Rhodes wrote in an article released by the White House coinciding with the announcement of Mr Obama’s visit.

“In making this visit, the President will shine a spotlight on the tremendous and devastating human toll of war.”

The visit would “offer the opportunity to honour the memory of all innocents who were lost during the war”, wrote Mr Rhodes.

“The president and his team will make this visit knowing that the open recognition of history is essential to understanding our shared past, the forces that shape the world we live in today and the future that we seek for our children and grandchildren,” he said.