Thirty nine U.S. lawmakers have joined a wave of sympathy for South Korean people suffering the loss of hundreds of people in a ferry sinking last month, the nation's embassy here said Monday.

"If you share happiness, it multiplies by double, if you share sadness, it lessens by half. We go together," wrote Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. His words were inscribed in a book kept at Capitol Hill last week, according to the embassy.

Rep. Ed Royce, who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also offered his condolences.

"Prayers and condolences to the victims and families who lost their loved ones in this tragic event," he wrote.

Sen. Mark Begich, co-chair of the Korea Caucus at the Senate, was in a bipartisan group of 37 other members of Congress who signed the book. (Yonhap)