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LA City Council passes Korean American National Museum proposal

November 25, 2015

Kay Song, of the Korean American National Museum board of directors, third from left, celebrates the passing of the museum proposal by Los Angeles City Council with District 4 representative David Ryu. (Park Sang-hyuk/Korea Times)

By Tae Hong

The proposal to construct Los Angeles’s first Korean American National Museum was passed unanimously by the City Council Tuesday.

The museum, which will take up the first three floors of a seven-story multiplex on the corner of 6th Street and Vermont Avenue in Koreatown, could be completed in as little as two years.

The proposal had the support of District 4 City Councilman David Ryu, the city’s first Korean in the council.

The building housing the museum will house apartment units on its top floors and exhibit halls, a 6,000-square-foot outdoor space, a cafe and an auditorium for the museum.

The site was secured in 2013.

Expected costs for the museum total about $10 million, and another $20 million for the rest of the building. The museum’s board of directors, headed by Bright World Foundation President Hong Myung-ki and Korea Times CEO Chang Jae-min, said it has already raised $3.4 million for the museum and plans to raise additional funds through personal and business donations.

Gruen Associates, the architecture firm behind the Museum of Contemporary Art and the renovation of the Hollywood Bowl, has taken on the project, with museum design advised by UCLA The Now Institute Director Eui-sung Yi.

Yi’s plans for the exterior includes a Korean floral wall.

Upon the unveiling of the architectural plan of the museum in July, Korean American Federation of Los Angeles President James Ahn called the museum a representation of 2.5 million Koreans in the U.S. and a picture of 113 years of immigration history.

Kay Song, a board director, said a fundraising campaign within the Korean American community would begin near the end of this year and the beginning of next. The groundbreaking ceremony is expected to be held July 1 next year.

“We hope all Koreans and Korean businesses join us in moving our culture forward and in preserving our history,” she said.

To donate, call 213-388-4229.

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