The Korean Bell of Friendship is a massive bronzebell housed in a stone pavilion in Angel's Gate Park, in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Located at the corner of Gaffey and 37th Streets, the section of the park is alternatively called the "Korean-American Peace Park" and occupies part of the former Upper Reservation of Fort MacArthur. It is modeled after the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok the Great of Silla, cast in 771 for Bongdeok Temple and now located at the National Museum of Gyeongju. The Emille Bell is the largest bell ever cast in Korean history; both are among the largest bells in the world. The bell is made of over seventeen tons of copper and tin, with gold, nickel, lead, and phosphorus added to the alloy for tone quality. It has a diameter of 7½ feet, average thickness of 8 inches, and a height of 12 feet. The exterior surface is richly decorated in relief, featuring four pairs of figures. Each pair includes a "Goddess of Liberty" and a Seonnyeo, or Korean spirit figure, holding the South Korean national symbol: a Taegeuk symbol, a branch of rose of Sharon, a branch of laurel, and a dove.
History
The bell was presented by the South Korean government to the United States to celebrate the bicentennial of the U.S. and to symbolize friendship between the two countries. The effort was coordinated by Philip Ahn, a Korean American actor. It was dedicated on October 3, 1976, and declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 187 in 1978. Beginning in 2010, the bell has been ceremonially struck five times a year: on New Year's Eve, Korean American Day, the Fourth of July, Korean Liberation Day, and Constitution Day. It was also rung on September 11, 2002, to commemorate the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The bell is also rung without specific ceremony on the first Saturday of each month at noon, 13 times for the public to enjoy. The bell does not have a clapper; instead, it is sounded by striking it with a large wooden log. The pavilion that houses the bell, known as the Belfry of Friendship, was built by South Korean craftsmen over a period of ten months. Its design is traditional. It is axially symmetric, consisting of a hipped roof supported by twelve columns representing the Korean zodiac, each column guarded by a carved animal. The color patterning along the bell's pavilion is known in Korean as dancheong. In 2013, the bell received a full restoration to remove accumulated rust and graffiti tagging, and access to the bell and the pavilion was restricted from September through December. The City of Los Angeles rededicated the Bell during a public ceremony on January 10, 2014.
Popular culture
•The Usual Suspects •Lana Del Rey has used this location to film a music video, as has the South Korean rapper Zico.
