Korea Veterans Satisfied With Alternative Monument Site

The leader of a veterans’ group fighting for a Korean War memorial in the San Pedro area said Sunday that the organization would accept an alternative site proposed last week by the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Commission.

Jack Stites, executive director of the International Korean War Veterans Memorial Committee, said that supporters of the memorial expect to officially announce today that they would agree to move the proposed memorial away from a contested spot near the Korean Friendship Bell to another site inside Angels Gate Park.

Stites made his remarks before ceremonies in the park commemorating the start of the Korean War. “Today is the day that the Korean War is ‘no longer the forgotten war,’ ” he said.

Until last week’s decision by the Cultural Affairs Commission, veterans were arrayed against a group of San Pedro residents who claimed that the proposed monument--honoring members of the 1st Marine Division who fought in the 1950 battle of Chosin Reservoir--would clash with the serenity of the park area near the bell.

In a compromise decision, the city commission accepted the veterans’ redesign of a battle scene portrayed by the proposed memorial but said last week that the memorial could not be near the bell, a gift of the South Korean government to the city of Los Angeles in 1976.