Japan Press Weekly

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2018 January 24 - 30 [PEACE]

Japanese and South Korean teenagers concur on need to abolish nuclear weapons

Young Japanese peace activists and young environmental activists from South Korea on January 18 in Osaka City exchanged their views and experiences regarding peace and environment issues, agreeing on the need to abolish nuclear weapons.

This event was co-hosted by the Osaka Prefectural Peace Committee and an Osaka local environmental group. Together with 12 young members of the peace committee, 19 South Korean junior and senior high school students, who are members of the youth-led environmental NGO “Green Korea” in South Korea’s Daejeon City, attended the event.

In a session on peace issues, Osaka peace committee official Ueba Haruo spoke of the power of the example of the Hiroshima bombing by using photographs of the devastation after he heard that the South Korean youth group visited Hiroshima ahead of Osaka and listened to Hibakusha testimonies.

Korean high school students performed a skit in which a world without nuclear weapons is established through dialogue between South Korean President Moon and North Korean leader Kim.

In the environment issue session, Nishinoda Technology Senior High School teacher Sawada Shiro reported on the results of a survey on air pollution in Osaka which he conducted with his students. Green Korea members talked about findings from their survey on South Korea’s air quality.

A male South Korean student said, “With this event, I’m confirmed in my belief that nuclear weapons must be eliminated.” A Japanese teen age girl said, “I’m really glad to make good friends with South Korean teens.”