Protest letter against the DPRK nuclear test (September 3, 2017)

September 3, 2017

His Excellency Mr. Kim Jong-Un
Chairman of the State Affairs Commission
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Letter of Protest

Today we learned that your country conducted a nuclear test for the sixth time. Ignoring the international community’s call for self-restraint, your country has repeatedly launched ballistic missiles and conducted another experiment following the one tested last September. These provocations by your country have not only threatened national security worldwide but have put the world in further peril by reinforcing the trend of depending on nuclear deterrence.

This July, 122 countries, accounting for over 60 percent of the United Nations member states, endorsed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, indicating their clear determination to strive for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Your nuclear test conducted against this backdrop impedes the international community’s strenuous efforts for the realization of a world free of nuclear weapons and it shall not be tolerated. 

Your country’s series of actions are callously trampling on our hibakusha’s ardent wish for peace rooted in their bitter and painful experiences. I am outraged at your unacceptable deeds of violence. On behalf of the A-bombed city of Hiroshima, I once again vehemently protest.

I demand anew, in the strongest possible terms, that your country immediately abandon all nuclear weapons and their development programs, and engage in good-faith diplomatic efforts, through dialogue and collaboration, with the international community.

MATSUI Kazumi
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima