Toshiyuki Mimaki, the chairman of Nihon Hidankyo, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, said his foremost wish was to “please abolish nuclear weapons while we are alive.”

The ambassador pointed to Norway’s noted role in negotiations regarding Colombia, a peace process that resulted in then-President Juan Manuel Santos winning the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize “for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.”

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”