Doves fly over the Peace Memorial Park with Hiroshima's Atomic Bomb Dome in the background.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize early in his presidency in 2009 in part for his commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, Obama on May 27 will visit the site of the world's first nuclear bomb attack with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
With the end of his last term in office approaching in January 2017, Obama will "highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," the White House said in a statement.The visit comes as part of a May 20-28 swing through Asia, which will include a Group of Seven summit in Japan and a visit to Vietnam. It will be the 10th trip to the region for Obama, who has tried to make a foreign policy "pivot" toward Asia.
On the final day of the summit in Japan, Obama and Abe will visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park near the spot where a US warplane dropped an atomic bomb 71 years ago at the end of World War Two. There have been concerns that a US presidential visit would be controversial in the United States if it were seen as an apology.
