Citizens Panel Approves Site for Monument

A citizens advisory committee in San Pedro has recommended that a monument to Korean War veterans be placed at Angels Gate Park, so long as it does not interfere with the view of the Pacific Ocean from the Korean Friendship Bell.

However, at its meeting Wednesday, the Angels Gate Citizens Advisory Committee did not discuss the major point of contention about the monument: the design of its central sculpture, which depicts a dozen 10-foot bronze soldiers in a battle scene that some say glorifies war. An opposition group says it will continue to fight the memorial as currently conceived.

The citizens committee will make its recommendation to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, who asked the panel to review the monument proposal in the wake of the dispute about it. Flores will then make a non-binding recommendation to the city Recreation and Parks Commissioners.

Backers of the monument say they are willing to follow the committee’s recommendation, which would mean dropping the height of the sculpture by about eight feet. Lowering the height of the monument will be accomplished by reducing the size of the base or by lowering the site, not by reducing the size of the bronze figures.