President Obama will visit Hiroshima later this month to affirm his commitment to pursuing a world without nuclear weapons.
The White House announced the planned trip early on Tuesday, which will make Obama the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. The United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
Obama's trip to Vietnam and Japan between May 21 and 28 is his 10th trip to Asia since becoming president, Politico reported. While in Japan, Obama will attend the G-7 Summit. He will visit Hiroshima on May 27.
"The President and Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe will meet bilaterally to further advance the U.S.-Japan alliance, including our cooperation on economic and security issues as well as a host of global challenges," the White House said in a statement. "Finally, the President will make an historic visit to Hiroshima with Prime Minister Abe to highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, wrote in a Medium post that it will be "the appropriate moment for the President to visit this city and shrine."
"The President will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a site at the center of the city dedicated to the victims of the atomic bombing, where he will share his reflections on the significance of the site and the events that occurred there," Rhodes wrote. "He will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future."
Rhodes further wrote that the visit "will offer an opportunity to honor the memory of all innocents who were lost during the war."
Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, and Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Hiroshima in April.