Ground to be broken next summer for Korean War museum in U.S.

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, July 30 (Yonhap) -- Construction of the first Korean War museum in
the United States is expected to break ground next summer.

The site for the 50,000-square-foot Korean War National Museum is near the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., museum
executive director Larry Sassorossi told Yonhap News Agency Thursday.
Sassorossi said the museum will be the first Korean War museum in the U.S.,
although several monuments commemorate the "Forgotten Victory." As many as
54,246 American soldiers were killed and 8,176 were captured or went missing in
the 1950-53 Korean War, in which the U.S. fought for South Korea against North
Korea and its communist ally China.
U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Korean War Veterans Recognition Act Monday
to designate July 27 as the day when the Stars and Stripes should be flown at
half-staff in memory of the American soldiers killed in the Korean War.
The war broke out on June 25, 1950, and ended in an armistice on July 27, 1953.
"We already have something but not big like this. Now we have to make it the
right way," Sassorossi said. "We've had a museum since 2004. But now we want to
do it for people. There are a lot of monuments, but this is the only museum on
the Korean War in the United States."
Sassorossi, a Korean War veteran, hopes that despite the worst recession in
decades in the U.S., construction will begin next June to coincide with the 60th
anniversary of the breakout of the war.
"We have people committed, but it's the timing because of the economy, you know,
right now," he said. "But we are virtually certain because of the people we have.
We can start next year. That's the 60th anniversary. Also, our veterans are not
getting younger. The average age is 79. We need to be fast."
Sassorossi hoped that the construction work will be done in about a year, noting
a majority of the US$18 million project has already been raised since the
fundraising campaign began in 2004.
"The big thing we are going to do is saying, Look at Korea today. That's the
victory. So it takes a lot of money," he said.
Sassorossi thinks the museum's proximity to the Lincoln museum will help attract
visitors.
"Without Lincoln, we would not be there," he said. "They get 300,000 people a
year. We are going to joint ticket with them. They are seven. We are five. There
are 12 dollars, but eight dollars for both. That's why we are there."
The idea started among a group of Korean War veterans in Illinois, he said.
"The idea started in Illinois," he said. "It is in the middle. This is the
heartland of America. One-third of the population is eight hours away."
Korean War also has something to do with Lincoln, he said.
"One of the biggest things that happened in Korea, think about it, is that black
and white got together," Sassorossi said. "In World War II, there were black
units and white units. But between the wars, in 1948, Truman said now we are
gonna be one. So people could eat at the same lunch counters. That was a big
change."

hdh@yna.co.kr

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