Craftsmen use traditional skills to restore Korean Friendship Bell

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joins South Korean and American officials in ringing the massive bronze Korean Friendship Bell at a rededication ceremony Friday in San Pedro. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Dec. 6, 2013 5:01 PM PT

A gift from South Korea for the U.S. Bicentennial, the huge Korean Friendship Bell had accumulated rust and was tagged with graffiti. But L.A. had neither the money nor skill to repair it.

Byung-hwi Cho, restoration foreman, reaches out to brush off the finished Korean Friendship Bell before the rededication ceremony. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

South Korean and American flags wave in the wind under the Korean Friendship Bell pavilion. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

South Korean Counsul General Yeon-sung Shin, pointing center left, talks about the Korean Friendship Bell restoration with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, center, and Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, center right, before they rang the massive bronze bell in San Pedro. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Members of the South Korean musical group Durapea play and dance around the Korean Friendship Bell before the rededication ceremony. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, right, admires his miniature replica of the Korean Friendship Bell at the rededication ceremony on Friday. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Dense fog envelops the Korean Friendship Bell pagoda in San Pedro on Jan. 3, enshrouded for its dedication on Friday. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Master bell maker Chai Dong-hey painstakingly chisels out impurities encrusted in the nooks and crannies of the Korean Friendship Bell in San Pedro during its restoration. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Master bell-maker Chai Dong-hey buffs out impurities in the costume of a Korean angel. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

A crew of Korean painters works on the Korean Friendship Bell’s pagoda. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

A team including a concrete specialist and painter evaluate damage to the decorative structure of the Korean Friendship Bell’s pagoda. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Byung-Hwi Cho looks at an inscription put inside the Korean Friendship Bell by the masters who cast it in 1976. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Daniel Lopez carries scaffolding past a chipped column as work begins on the restoration of the Korean Friendship Bell. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

A crew of Korean painters works on the Korean Friendship Bell’s pagoda. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Byung-hwi Cho looks up from scaffolding at artwork of a Korean dragon smeared with bird droppings. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

Byung-hwi Cho reaches out to touch the polished Korean Friendship Bell. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

An inscription inside the Korean Friendship Bell tells who the bell masters were, where it was cast and when. “The Great Republic of Korea, made by Peom Jong Sa, Kim Chul Oh, Kim Dong Il in the city Seoul, 189 Kang Nam Gu Street, 1976.” (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)