Key gifts boost KU's Korean War Memorial project

Yong L. Kim and Chancellor Robert Hemenway

Thanks to a Korean-American businessman and alumni and friends in Seoul, Republic of Korea, plans are moving forward to create a KU memorial to people who were killed in the Korean War.

The memorial will be built on the hill above Potter Lake along Memorial Drive, west of the World War II Memorial Campanile. The memorial, which could cost up to $300,000, will include a tablet describing the war and honoring those who died.

Yong L. Kim, who came to the Kansas City area as a student from the Republic of Korea in 1962, gave $30,000 to the Kansas University Endowment Association to fund construction of the memorial. In addition, the project recently received $15,000 from five South Korean corporations: Korea National Housing Corp., Korea Land Corp., Myung Sun Architects & Engineers, Eawes, and Agabang Co. Ltd. The Korean Student Association, a KU alumni chapter in Seoul, also gave $10,000.

Kim, who is the founder of QMD International in Kansas City, Mo., was 12 years old in 1950 when military forces from the People's Republic of Korea, or North Korea, crossed the border into the Republic of Korea. He said he feels an obligation to honor the U.S. soldiers killed in the war.

"There are other memorials at KU, but there isn't yet one for Korea," he said. "I feel really obligated to do something because, as a Korean, I appreciate those who defended Korea against communism."

About 5,000 Koreans live in the Kansas City area and look forward to completion of the memorial, he said.

KU's existing memorials include the Kansas Memorial Union and Memorial Stadium for World War I; the Campanile for World War II; and the Vietnam Memorial.

So far, more than $60,000 has been raised for the Korean War memorial. KU Endowment and University officials will continue to raise money for the project. For more information about supporting the memorial, please contact Jerome Davies, vice president for development at KU Endowment, (785) 832-7460.