US Envoy Welcome at Hiroshima Ceremony
Japan welcomed Thursday the United States’ decision to send its ambassador to a ceremony next week marking 65 years since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
John Roos will become the first official to represent the U.S. at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial on Aug. 6, “to express respect for all of the victims of World War II,” said the U.S. State Department.
“The government of Japan welcomes” the decision, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said. “It will be an opportunity for him to deepen his understanding of Japan’s strong desire of never repeating the horror of the atomic bombings.”
Tokyo has often asked Washington to send an envoy to the annual ceremony.
Roos is expected to lay a floral wreath on the 65th anniversary of the WWII bombing that helped force Japan’s surrender, reports said.
The U.S. has never apologized for the mass killing, and U.S. domestic public opinion holds that it was necessary to end the war.
Japan is the only nation ever attacked with atomic bombs.