UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for the total elimination of nuclear weapons while attending a ceremony commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the Nagasaki nuclear bombing on Thursday.
“Nuclear weapons undermine global, national and human security. The total elimination of nuclear weapons remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations,” Guterres said.
Guterres continued to say that through the horror experienced through nuclear bombing, “we can reach a deeper understanding of our irreducible bonds of responsibility to each other.”
“Let us all commit to making Nagasaki the last place on earth to suffer nuclear devastation”, he added.
Nagasaki was the second city to ever be bombed by a nuclear weapon. The attack took place on August 9, 1945; three days after the United States Air Force dropped the first on Hiroshima. Between 39,000 and 80,000 people are reported to have been killed by the blast and in the aftermath in Nagasaki.