US President Barack Obama is to visit Hiroshima this month—the first serving president to travel to the Japanese city, which was hit by a US nuclear attack in 1945. The visit will be part of an Asian trip that will also take in Vietnam.
The Hiroshima bombing on 6 August 1945 killed 140,000 people. Along with a second bombing on Nagasaki, it is credited with ending World War II, BBC reported. Jimmy Carter has visited Hiroshima, but after the end of his presidency.
A statement from Obama's press secretary said: "The president will make a historic visit to Hiroshima with Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe to highlight his continued commitment to pursuing peace and security in a world without nuclear weapons."
Ben Rhodes, the president's communications adviser, said Obama would not revisit the use of the atomic bomb in World War II but would "offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future".
Obama will also take part in the G7 summit in Japan's Ise-Shima Peninsula.
