WASHINGTON — The idea seems simple enough: Erect a wall at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. — similar to the famous wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial — to call greater attention to what is often called the forgotten war.

But it’s touched off a battle on Capitol Hill.

“The Korean War Veterans Memorial was dedicated in 1995, and many veterans feel that while it is extraordinarily moving, the magnitude of their sacrifice is not yet adequately conveyed by the memorial,” Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, said in a letter to colleagues seeking support for his bill to authorize a Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War memorial.

But the Interior Department came out against the legislation Tuesday, expressing concern that a wall listing the names of Americans killed in the Korean War could generate public controversy.

“As the Vietnam Veterans Memorial experience showed, there is not always agreement on those names to be included and those names that are not, and this has led to public contention and controversy,” Stephen Whitesell, director of the National Park Service’s capital region, told the House subcommittee on national parks, forests and public lands.

The Korean War memorial near the Lincoln Memorial features 19 7-foot-tall stainless steel soldiers in windblown ponchos on patrol by a mural etched with images of faces from the war and a reflecting “Pool of Remembrance.”

The legislation would authorize a 7- to 8-foot-high glass wall, funded by private contributions, that would list the names of Americans killed in action; the number of Americans wounded, missing in action and prisoners of war; and the number of South Koreans and military forces from other U.N. nations killed, wounded, missing in action or prisoners or war.