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The local Korean American community is waiting with bated breath to find out the future of the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial.
The Kansas City Royals made it official in April that baseball is coming to downtown. The new ballpark will stretch 85 acres across Crown Center and Washington Square Park.
Currently sitting at Washington Square Park is the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial. It was built in 2011 to honor the lives of more than 900 Missourians who fought in the “Forgotten War." Their names are etched on the walls.
“Because of them, we always say, ‘We’ll never forget,’” said Yong Kim, who helped build the memorial.
Kim calls them his heroes. He was 12 years old and living in Korea during the communist invasion.
“Really scary. Terrible incident among same people ... killing each other,” Kim said.
As he grew older, Kim was determined to keep their names alive. So he and his friend James Schultz, a Korean War Marine Corps veteran, along with private donors, decided to build the Missouri Korean War Veterans Memorial.
“Starting is most important, so we started,” Kim said.
The memorial was finished on Sept. 28, 2011 — exactly 61 years to the day since the United Nations successfully liberated Seoul, South Korea, from communist control.
Now facing relocation, local South Koreans are sounding the alarm.
“I was really worried whether the park will be actually removed completely or re-preserved, so there’s a lot of questions from our community,” said Kay Mun, president of the Korean American Society of Greater Kansas City. “Hopefully it’ll be done correctly.”
Mun currently sits on the board of the Korean War Veterans Association Department of Missouri, which is working with the city to identify a respectful new location. He reached out to KSHB 41 after he was notified by Councilman Nathan Willett (1st District) that the memorial will be relocated to make space for the new Royals stadium.
Willett sponsored a resolution, which was approved by the city council, to direct the city manager to find other potential sites. The city manager has until mid-summer to present a list.
As the search for a new home continues, Mun and the Korean American community want to know: Where is it going? How much will it cost? What is the timeline?
“I believe that there’s many locations throughout Kansas City, including Clay and Platte County, to make sure that we have a place that [is] respectful and a place that is accessible as well,” Willett said. “There’s plenty of great park systems that we can tie this into.”
Willett predicts some parts of the memorial will be excavated and moved, while other parts will be broken down and rebuilt.
“I’m sure it would be several million dollars,” Willett said. “You would have to look at the 2011 price of this and adjust it for inflation, but I’m confident we can build something that can last long-term.”
Willett says the city council must make sure a new location is identified and locked in before the Royals can break ground.
Mun believes it is the responsibility of those who are asking the memorial be moved to pay for the cost.
“Cause we have invested a lot of money into this when we started out [in] 2011,” Mun said. “I don’t know how they are going to be budgeted, but we are going to work with them.”
The Korean American Society of Greater Kansas City wants the memorial to stay downtown or be moved to the Country Club Plaza.
“If we move, we’ll do much better than this,” Kim said.
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