
The Korean Friendship Bell stands in a stone pavilion above the Pacific, its ceremonial scale linking a coastal park to the history of Korea–United States relations. Given in 1976, the bell honors Korean War veterans and expresses a hope for friendship.
Guide preview
The ocean gives this bell a broad horizon, but its meaning begins with a gift. The Republic of Korea presented the bell to the people of the United States in 1976, during the American Bicentennial, to honor Korean War veterans and symbolize friendship between the two countries.
Continue exploring
Discover the full story
Keep reading with a travel pass and explore every full guide and tour.
UpgradeQuick facts
- The bell was a gift from the Republic of Korea in 1976.
- It was presented during the United States Bicentennial.
- The gift honors Korean War veterans and symbolizes friendship between the countries.
More places in Los Angeles

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
The Academy Museum occupies the restored May Company building and a newer spherical addition on Wilshire Boulevard. Its architecture links Los Angeles’s commercial past with the art and technology of filmmaking, giving the museum a campus shaped by both preservation and invention.

Angels Flight Railway
Two compact cars climb a steep slope in a short ride that links downtown’s modern grid to the former Bunker Hill neighborhood. Angels Flight is a surviving funicular, and its interrupted history reflects the dramatic rebuilding of central Los Angeles.

Beverly Hills Sign
The Beverly Hills sign and lily pond sit within Beverly Gardens Park, a landscaped ribbon that gives the city a recognizable public image. The sign works as a civic marker, while the water and planting soften the surrounding urban streets.

Bradbury Building
The Bradbury Building’s restrained street façade opens into a dramatic five-storey atrium of brick, iron, marble and daylight. Built in 1893, the office building makes its interior circulation the main event, drawing visitors’ eyes up through stairways and open balconies.

California Science Center
California Science Center presents science through hands-on galleries and major artifacts in Exposition Park. The Space Shuttle Endeavour anchors its aerospace story, connecting visitors to the engineering, teamwork and research behind human spaceflight.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
The cathedral’s angular concrete walls and amber-toned alabaster panels create an interior shaped by filtered light rather than conventional stained-glass storytelling. Rafael Moneo’s design places a contemporary Catholic landmark beside the civic buildings of downtown Los Angeles.