2023 World Conference against A and H Bombs
International Meeting – Session 1
Lee Ki-yeol
Auditor, Korean Atomic Bomb Casualty Association
Republic of Korea
Let us work together for the international people’s tribunal to hold US
accountable for the atomic bombings

Greetings to friends from Gensuikyo and all participants in the World Conference
against A and H Bombs.
I am Lee Ki-yeol, an auditor of the Korean Atomic Bomb Casualty Association.
Seventy-eight years seems to be too long to keep the nightmare in our memory. But
my body clearly remembers the calamity I experienced on that day. I awake in thedead of night every day. I never go to bed without feeling suffocated. I wear cotton
face mask in bed to mitigate the pains I have in the nose.
The souls of countless Korean victims of the atomic bombing 78 years ago must still
be haunting the heavens without being able to return to their homes. As an A-bomb
survivor, I keenly wish to welcome the souls back to their liberated home.
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed the life of Korean
Hibakusha. Nevertheless, none of the perpetrators have admitted to theirwrongdoing. The South Korean government has treated those Hibakusha with norespect.
Living as Hibakusha all through life, I wish to see the United States accept
responsibility and apologize for committing the crime of dropping atomic bombs. If
possible, I want to sue the United States. But I know how difficult it is to file a lawsuitin the United States. Our wish to hold a people’s tribunal has been taken up by theSolidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK) and other Korean civicgroups. Work has begun toward holding the International People’s Tribunal on US
Atomic Bombing in 2026 in New York.
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I want to devote the rest of my life to the effort to hold the United States responsible
for the atomic bombings and expose the illegality of the use of the atomic bomb. The
main purpose of the tribunal is to hear the United States make an apology saying, “Itwas wrong for the United States to drop the atomic bomb.” This is why I decided toparticipate in the international people’s tribunal as a plaintiff.
Japanese Hibakusha and Korean Hibakusha share the same sufferings, so I believethat we can encourage and join forces with each other. I sincerely wish to work
together with civil society organizations and lawyers from Korea and the rest of theworld toward the planned international people’s tribunal at the next NPT Review
Conference in 2026 in New York. There we hope that we can bring the 1945 US
nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to justice in the public eye.
If the United States admits that its use of nuclear weapons was wrong and makes anapology for it, no country will think of using such weapons.
We want to console the souls of those who had to die after enduring aftereffects ofthe exposure to radiation from atomic bombing, hunger and indifference to theirproblems. We also want to contribute to reducing the risk of nuclear war on theKorean Peninsula and to the realization of a world free of nuclear weapons. As aKorean Hibakusha, I firmly believe that we must prevent Korean people from falling
victim to the use of nuclear weapons at any cost. I believe that this is the mission I
have to carry out as a person who has lived through the pains of Hibakusha.
As a Korean atomic bomb victim, I will join hands with Gensuikyo and all theparticipants in the World Conference to make further efforts to pass a peaceful world
without war or nuclear weapons on to our children and grandchildren.
We’ll fight for peace and against war and nuclear weapons, and dream of a beautifulworld.
Thank you for your attention.

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