Korean Friendship Bell

The bell is seventeen tons of bronze, twelve feet tall, hung in a stone pavilion on twelve columns, one for each animal of the zodiac. It was a gift from the Republic of Korea to the United States for the bicentennial in 1976, and it sits on the bluff at Angels Gate because this is the harbor American troops shipped out from for Korea.

It is modeled on the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok, cast in 771 and one of Korea's national treasures. Nine bell masters worked close to a year on the replica. The first casting cracked and the whole thing had to be started again, which is why it missed the Fourth of July and was not dedicated until October 3, 1976. Thirty craftsmen came from Korea and spent about ten months building the pavilion on site, living in the old Fort MacArthur barracks while they did it.

Four times around the bell, the Goddess of Liberty stands arm in arm with a Korean spirit, each pair holding a different emblem. There is no clapper. It is struck from outside, and only a few times a year.

The ground is a decommissioned coastal artillery post, which is worth knowing as you look down at the breakwater the guns were there to protect.