NEW YORK — U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said Wednesday he hopes to utilize his upcoming visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombings to push forward his goal of realizing a world free of nuclear arms.
"During my visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I will try to send a strong and very important message to the world that the nuclear threat is real, and that we must do everything we can (to) build on the current global momentum toward a nuclear weapon-free world," the U.N. chief told reporters ahead of his trip to Japan that begins next Tuesday and includes stops in the two cities.
"I have chosen two cities as the venue to send out this message," he said. "These cities stand as significant reminders of the need to achieve a nuclear weapon-free world."