An hour later, however, he got the reply, “Live happily. I am fine and I love you.”

Later it was found that a smartphone user who had recently changed his number had responded to the father’s message to comfort him.

“The person is very warm-hearted. My child must be very glad in heaven,” the father told a local media outlet.

Phone numbers of the deceased are usually terminated right after a person’s death, when the family cancels them by bringing the confirmation of death to a telecom operator.

However, not all families of the Sewol ferry sinking victims canceled their children’s smartphone numbers. Jeon Myung-sun is one of them.

“I couldn’t cancel the number as friends of my son still call and send messages. I sometimes look at it and reply to them,” Jeon said.

“Families still wish their children were alive. It is necessary to understand their broken hearts,” said Kim Hyun-jeong, a professor at the National Medical Center.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)