The Sunfull Foundation has declared May 23 “No Hate Comments Day” to raise awareness about cyberbullying and promote positive online messages.

A ceremony was held Tuesday at DGB Financial Center in central Seoul with the Sunfull Foundation’s founder Min Byung-chul, local lawmakers and members of Sunfull youth supporter clubs in attendance.

May 23 is the day that the anti-cyberbullying campaign will begin in earnest, the foundation explained.

During the week between May 17 and 23, the Sunfull Foundation will launch various events including education programs on cyberbullying prevention and a street campaign to promote posting Sunfull or positive comments.

“We’ve declared the No Hate Comments Day with the intent to recognize the seriousness of malicious comments and (encourage people) to refrain from posting hurtful comments even just for one day on May 23,” Min said.

Park Kwang-on, chairman of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, underscored that the act of posting “malicious comments is a serious crime that takes the life of another.”

“We will reinforce related laws and regulations to prevent cyberbullying and actively support civic movements such as the Sunfull campaign.”

The Sunfull Foundation is a nongovernmental organization founded by Min, an endowed chair professor at the College of Business at Chung-Ang University, in 2007 to counter cyberbullying, hate speech and human rights violations on the internet.

(dagyumji@heraldcorp.com)