Japan Press Weekly

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2018 April 25 - May 8 [POLITICS]

North and South Korean leaders’ handshake with smile was joyful event: Japan-Korea friendship association

The North and South Korean leaders held a summit on April 27. Commenting on the historic moment when the two leaders shook hands and greeted each other with warm smiles, an executive of a Japan-Korea friendship association (Niccho-kyokai) said, “It was a joyful event.” Meanwhile, an A-bomb survivor (Hibakusha) said that the inter-Korean summit is a big first step toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Lawyer Miyagawa Yasuhiko, who heads a Tokyo local of the Niccho-kyokai, said, “I think the historic handshake showed that South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who worked hard to pave the way for the summit meeting, is fully determined to prevent any military conflict let alone a nuclear war from happening.” Miyazawa also said that the warm handclasp also signified their stance of dealing with the Korean Peninsula issues on their own initiative.

The Niccho-kyokai Tokyo local head said, “The North-South Korea summit meeting came to a successful conclusion, but we all know that this doesn’t mean achieving everything all at once: the abandonment of nuclear weapons by North Korea; the end of the Korean War; and the conclusion of a peace agreement. I hope that North and South Korea will continue to take further steps forward to achieving these goals with the whole world watching. In addition, the international community should support them in their endeavor to achieve their goals.”

Nagasaki atomic bomb survivor Kido Sueichi, the Secretary General of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bombs Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), commented, “I welcome the fact that the North and South Korean leaders in their joint statement referred to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This marked the first step toward a nuclear weapons-free peninsula. I hope they will keep to their commitment.”

Stating that the process of denuclearizing the peninsula will be a long uphill road, Kido said that the two leaders’ joint announcement is another significant event following the adoption of the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons. He expressed his hope that the North and South Korean leaders will advance the denuclearization process step by step and realize a peaceful Korean Peninsula. He also stressed that the latest inter-Korean summit proved that world leaders’ taking steps to commit peace has the potential to transform the world as we know it.

Past related article:
> JCP welcomes the agreement to hold a summit meeting between the North and the South [March 8, 2018]