Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 10 - 16 [ANTI-N-ARMS]

Court orders city to certify South Korean man as Hibakusha

The Nagasaki District Court on July 9 ordered Nagasaki City to officially certify a 68-year-old man living in South Korea as a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing on Nagasaki (Hibakusha).

The man is Kim Sung-nam who survived the A-bomb attack on Nagasaki when he was eight months old. In 2011, he submitted an application for Hibakusha certification to the Nagasaki City government, but his application was declined. The city claimed that Kim failed to provide enough evidence that he was in Nagasaki at the time of the A-bombing. He then filed a lawsuit against the city, demanding official recognition.

In the court battle, Kim argued that he was in Nagasaki’s Hashiguchi Town at the time of the explosion based on his family register and stories he heard from his parents, now deceased.

Acknowledging that Kim’s account is specific and reasonable, the court ordered the city to cancel the rejection of his application and to recognize him as Hibakusha.

Hirano Nobuto, a co-leader of the liaison council for Hibakusha living abroad, said, “This is a rare victory as local governments hardly ever give official Hibakusha recognition to applicants who don’t have evidence other than their personal testimony.”