Memorial for late Korean marathon hero to be built in Seoul

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) --A memorial for the late Korean marathoner who won the
gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics will be built in Seoul by 2012, the city's
central ward office said Monday.

Sohn Kee-jung is treated as a national hero who struggled to bring pride to the
Korean people although he won the medal during Japan's colonial rule period under
Japan's national flag. Korea was occupied by Japan between 1910 and 1945. Sohn
died of pneumonia in 2002 at the age of 90.
"We decided to construct the Sohn Kee-jung Memorial with a total funding of 30
billion won (US$25 million)," the office said in a statement.
Construction will begin early next year for completion by 2012, the centenary of
the birth of the late marathoner, it said.
Part of the funding will come from the Seoul city and state coffers since it is
the first such facility to be built by a local authority, the office said.
Currently, a private foundation runs a smaller memorial hall dedicated to the
late marathon hero in eastern Seoul.
The new memorial will be built into a three-story building in a park named after
him in Seoul's Manri-dong, according to the statement. It will be equipped with
an exhibition hall, an archive, an auditorium and a gym, officials said.
The ward office is in discussion with two private foundations to take over key
part of their collections related with Sohn -- such as the laurel wreath, the
gold medal and the certificate of victory showing that he won the 42.195
kilometer race in the Olympics, the officials said.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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