KAL Flight 801 memorial monument gives victims' families a place to grieve and pray

The large black obelisk erected on the hill where Korean Air Flight 801 crashed 25 years ago stands as more than an acknowledgement of a past tragedy, it is a place where the families of victims can go to mourn and pray.

Ina Lee comes to the memorial monument every year to remember and pray for her youngest brother Kwi Young Cho, a 28-year-old resident of Mangilao, who was onboard Flight 801.

Cho was one of 228 people who died out of the 254 passengers and flight crew on the plane when it crashed into Nimitz Hill in Asan on Aug. 6, 1997.

Emergency responders on the scene were unable to recover Cho’s body so Lee and her family 14 months later held a funeral service at the crash site.

“It’s a tragedy of Guam and people don’t remember, they forget. But for us as a family, since we did not recover his body, we like to go there to do our prayers,” Lee said.

Shared pain

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She said the legacy of this pain a quarter of a decade later is shared not only by her fellow Koreans but Chinese, Japanese and CHamoru families who also lost loved ones on the flight.

The idea to build a permanent memorial came from an organization of victims’ families that Lee belonged to that strongly requested Korean Air fund the establishment of a monument — which the airline agreed to.

The government of Guam, under the leadership of then-governor Carl Gutierrez, took charge of construction and working with Naval Base Guam commanders for permission to access the area, Lee said.

The memorial monument was completed on August 5, 1998.

Each year Korean Air pays about $2,000 to have contractors come and do bush cutting and maintenance work, but Lee said it is not enough. She and one of her brothers volunteer to help clean the monument annually.

Lee wanted to thank the governor’s office for their support in hosting a memorial ceremony from 9-10 a.m. on Saturday at the monument in Nimitz Hill.

It will be open to the public to pay their respects and will also be livestreamed on the governor’s Facebook page.