Lawmakers to promote 'sunfull' movement

Prof. Min Byoung-chul, right, head of “Sunfull Movement,” Rep. Ahn Hyo-dae, center, of the ruling Saenuri Party and Lee Jeong-un of the National Assembly’s Proceedings Bureau pose with an envelope containing a proposal aimed at promoting positive comments in cyberspace, at the Assembly, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Nam Hyun-woo

A group of lawmakers said Thursday they will propose an act on volunteer activities to promote the posting of positive comments in cyberspace and counter online-bullying.

Rep. An Hyo-dae of the ruling Saenuri Party and Prof. Min Byoung-chul of Konkuk University announced they will pusg for the National Assembly to accept their Framework Act on Volunteer Service Activities.

The move is aimed at recognizing online and offline work, which contribute to creating healthy use of the Internet and eradicating online discrimination, as volunteer activity.

In doing so, if a person writes positive replies on news articles and blog postings in cyberspace or counters negative or bullying comments with “sunfull,” which means a good reply, he or she will be issued with a Sunfull Volunteer Activity Certificate.

Ahn said, “As racism and regionalism in cyberspace have become serious social problems here, the act focuses on punishing online racists and regionalists, and promoting a healthy Internet culture.”

Min, the head of the Sunfull Movement, said, “More than 1.5 million people from different cultural backgrounds live in our society. But, malicious comments denouncing multicultural families still prevail on the Internet. So I suggested the act.”

Alongside Ahn, five other lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition parties attended the conference. Currently, 294 lawmakers are part of the Sunfull Movement.