LOC21:42
18:42 GMT
TOKYO, May 27 (KUNA) -- The South Korean government said Friday that it is meaningful that US President Obama mentioned Korean victims in his historic speech in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported.
Obama paid a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, where he laid a wreath for those who lost their lives and gave a speech in which he mentioned Korean victims as well.
"When expressing his feelings about the visit, he mentioned tens of thousands of Korean victims. We take notice that this is the first time that a sitting US president explicitly has mourned Korean victims right in Hiroshima," a foreign ministry official was quoted as saying.
"In such a historic speech, it is meaningful that he clearly mentioned Koreans, putting them on par with American and Japanese victims," he added.
The visit to Hiroshima made Obama the first sitting American president to set foot in the city after it was bombed on August 6, 1945, to end World War II.
The bomb killed some 140,000 residents, including some 20,000 Koreans. The US dropped another atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki three days later, leaving more than 70,000 people dead. (end)
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