10 May 2016•Update: 11 May 2016
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
Barack Obama will make history later this month when he becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima since 1945, the White House said Tuesday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will accompany the American president on his visit, according to the White House statement.
Obama’s visit will “highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” it said.
Roughly 135,000 people were killed on Aug. 6, 1945 when the U.S. dropped the bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on the city of Hiroshima.
It was the first of two nuclear bombings. A separate bombing in Nagasaki three days later claimed the lives of roughly 64,000 people.
Secretary of State John Kerry became the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the city when he participated in a wreath-laying ceremony in the city last month.
During his visit, Obama will not "revisit" the decision to use the bomb, Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor wrote on Medium.com, signaling that no formal apology will be made.
Obama will be in the island nation to participate in a G7 economic summit as part of a wider tour to Asia that will also see him travel to Vietnam.
