HIROSHIMA: South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met with Korean hibakusha atomic bomb survivors in the western Japan city of Hiroshima on Friday and apologized to them for the lack of support.

Yoon became the first sitting leader of South Korea to meet with hibakusha in Hiroshima, which was devastated by a US atomic bomb in August 1945.

He vowed to strengthen support for Korean hibakusha living in Japan and invite them and their families to South Korea, so that they can see how far the country has developed.

The meeting came as the president visited Hiroshima to attend as a guest a three-day Group of Seven summit that began the same day.

During his visit until Sunday, Yoon is also slated to visit a cenotaph for Korean victims of the atomic bombing, together with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

JIJI Press