Teaching East Asia: Korea Teaching East Asia: Korea | Page 8

The Bell of Friendship, also known as the Korean Friendship Bell or Korean Bell of Friendship, is a
massive and intricately-decorated bell and pavilion that was donated in 1976 to the people of the United
Stated by the people of the Republic of Korea to celebrate the bicentennial of the U.S. independence,
honor veterans of the Korean War, and to consolidate traditional friendship between the two countries.
The bell is patterned after the Bronze Bell of King Songdok, which was cast in 771 A.D. and is still on
view in South Korea today.
The Korean friendship Bell was cast in Korea and then shipped to the United States. Weighing over 17
tons, with a height of twelve feet and a diameter of 7-1/2 feet, the bell is made of copper and tin, with
gold, nickel, lead and phosphorous added or tone quality. As it had been the first time in over a
millennium that a bell of this size had been cast, a team of nine bell masters were assembled to construct
the Bell. They mobilized over 2,000 people to help with the construction and casting process. It took
them two tries, as the first bell they cast cracked during a test ringing. The second bell was successfully
cast and rung on the fourth of July 1976 in Korea before it was shipped to its current location.
Four pairs of figures, each pair consisting of the Goddess of Liberty holding a torch, and a Korean
representation of an angel, are engraved in relief on the body of the bell. Each of the Korean angels
holds up a different symbol: a symbolic design of the Korean flag; a branch of the Rose of Sharon,
Korea’s national flower; a branch of laurel, symbol of victory; and a dove of peace. Professor Kim Se
Jung is credited with sculpting the relief and other decorations on the exterior of the bell. The bell has no
clapper, but is struck from the outside with a wooden log.
The bell is hung in a concrete and stone pavilion, that was constructed on the site by thirty craftsmen
own in from Korea and it took ten months to complete. The pavilion is supported by twelve columns
representing the twelve designs of the Asian zodiac animals that stand guard at the base of each column.
On May 3, 1978, the City of Los Angeles designated the bell and the pavilion a Los Angeles Historic-
Cultural Monument No. 187.
The entire pavilion structure was initially painted white, but colorful “dan-cheong” decorations were
added in 1982 to commemorate the centennial of opening the U.S.–Korea diplomatic relationship in
1882.
In 2013, the bell and the pavilion underwent an extensive restoration process. A twelve-member crew of
artisans and craftsmen flew in from Korea and worked on site for four months to restore the bell and the
pavilion. It was rededicated during a special ceremony on January 10, 2014.
Resting peacefully at the grassy knoll overlooking the Port of Los Angeles from which U.S. troops
sailed to the Pacific, the bell site grants an unsurpassed 270 degrees view of the Los Angeles harbor, the
Catalina Channel and the sea terraces of San Pedro hill.
The site, a part of US Military base known as the Upper Reservation of Fort MacArthur, bears another
interesting connection to Korea. The fort was named after Lt. General Arthur MacArthur, whose son,
Marshall Douglas MacArthur, led the US Forces in the Pacific against Japan during World War II and
he commanded the UN Forces to defend the Republic of Korea against communist North Korea during
the Korean War.
The bell is officially rung only five times each year: the Fourth of July, August 15 (Korean Liberation
Day) and New Year’s Eve, January 13 (Korean American Day) and every September to coincide with
bell ringing around the country to celebrate Constitution Day.
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