HIROSHIMA: John Kerry on Monday became the first US secretary of state to visit Hiroshima's revered atomic bomb memorial, calling it a "stark, harsh, compelling reminder" to end the threat of nuclear weapons.
Kerry, who was accompanied by other G7 foreign ministers, is the highest-ranking US administration official to pay his respects at the site of the World War II bombing -- the world's first nuclear attack.
His trip comes as White House officials say President Barack Obama is considering a stop in the now-bustling Japanese city late next month around the time of a Group of Seven summit, which is being held in another part of the country.
Kerry's visit, and speculation that Obama may also go to Hiroshima, prompted suggestions that Washington might make an official apology over the August 1945 bombing, which killed 140,000 people.
America's top diplomat, however, played down that expectation, while a State Department official flatly ruled out an apology.
"My visit to Hiroshima has very special meaning about the strength of our relationship and the journey we have travelled together since the difficult time of the war," Kerry told Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida earlier Monday.
"We will revisit the past and honour those who perished, (but) this trip is not about the past; it's about the present and the future."
Arriving under tight security, the G7 ministers and the foreign policy chief of the European Union started their visit at a museum that shows the devastating impact of the bombing -- such as survivors' burned clothing and other personal affects.
"Everyone in the world should see and feel the power of this memorial," Kerry wrote in the museum's guest book.
"It is a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to rededicate all our effort to avoid war itself.
"War must be the last resort -- never the first choice."
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