Guterres to travel to Japan to meet Abe, attend Nagasaki peace ceremony

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is traveling to Japan next Tuesday to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and attend the Nagasaki ceremony marking the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.

At Tuesday's press briefing, UN spokesperson Eri Kaneko said Guterres will be the first UN secretary-general to attend the Nagasaki ceremony while his predecessor Ban Ki-moon attended the memorial service in Hiroshima in 2010.

"The secretary-general has a very strong disarmament agenda," said Kaneko, adding he will discuss with Nagasaki officials their experiences and their ideas for how to promote nuclear disarmament.

On the UN chief' meeting with Abe, she said, "We can expect topics such as North Korea to come up" among a range of issues including disarmament.

Guterres has previously said the UN stands ready to offer support in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

After meeting with Abe and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono next Wednesday, Guterres will travel to Nagasaki to meet with local officials and survivors of the atomic bombs the same day, according to Kaneko.

On Aug. 9, he will visit the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims before taking part in the 73rd Nagasaki Peace Ceremony, which honors victims of the atomic bombs dropped by the United States in Japan in 1945.