The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Koreans send messages of hope to quake victims in Japan

By Lim Jeong-yeo

Published : Jan. 11, 2017 - 16:37

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The launch of a website with messages of condolence and support from  Korean teenagers to Japan’s Kumamoto earthquake victims is sending ripples of goodwill across the sea and between the two neighboring countries.

Min Byoung-chul, chairman of the Sunfull Movement that promotes a campaign to stem cyberbullying, visited the afflicted Kumamoto prefecture on Jan. 5 to present the website with its comments to Ono Taisuke, deputy governor of the region and the prefecture people. 

Min Byoung-chul, fourth from left in first row, introduces the Sunfull website in Kumamoto, Japan, on Jan. 5. (Sunfull Movement) Min Byoung-chul, fourth from left in first row, introduces the Sunfull website in Kumamoto, Japan, on Jan. 5. (Sunfull Movement)

The word “sunfull” is a neologism for “positive reply” in Korean, as opposed to malicious comments in online communities and on social media.

More than 13,000 comments have been posted on the Sunfull Movement website (kumamoto.sunfull.or.kr), with users expressing wish for a swift recovery and health for the Japanese victims affected by the earthquakes that shook the nation on April 14 and 16, 2016. More than 40 died and 200,000 people were forced to evacuate.

Deputy Gov. Ono Taisuke thanked Min for the organization’s warm messages.

“This will be an opportunity for the two countries’ teenagers to grow closer,” he said.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)