Sun Moon University Starts a Collection to Help Japan

Hyeonjong Shin, Dohyeok Im, and Jeongsik Woo
March 18, 2011
Chosun Ilbo
Translated by Tossa Cromwell.

(Right) Sun Moon University in Seoul, South Korea. (Left)Foreign students, the General Student Assembly and other carry out a collection to help Japanese who are suffering due to the earthquake. There are 345 Japanese students in SMU.

Sun Moon University starts a collection to help Japan. Beak-seok and Woo-song Universities join in the effort.

In the age of the global village, wouldn't a true friend put out his hand when his friend is in despair and difficulty?"

Sun Moon University (SMU) in Asan, South Korea, and Beakseok University in Cheon-an, South Korea, have started a collection to help Japanese residents that have suffered harm due to the earthquake and tsunami.. 1100 foreign students from 65 nations are attending SMU, a school that has attained first place nationwide in the years of 2009 and 2010 for its ratio of foreign students. The SMU Social Volunteer Center, the General Student Assembly and the Japanese Student Assembly started collecting donations on March 15 and will continue until the end of the month, in order to assist residents of Japan that have suffered from earthquake damage.

Starting on the afternoon of the first day of collecting funds, banners were posted in the Main Hall, the dormitories and the lobby of the Student Hall of SMU, saying, "The world is one family, let's help those who have suffered from the earthquake in Japan" and collection boxes were installed, which immediately brought the warm footsteps of faculty and students. Some SMU faculty members plan to make donations by transferring portions of their salaries to a fund for SMU foreign students who have suffered damages and other residents of damaged areas.

There are currently 345 Japanese students enrolled at SMU. The houses of two Japanese students have been greatly damaged. Mogushi Mion (23, Junior, Unification Theology major) could not stop feeling uneasy: "My home in Usunomiya City, Dochigi Prefecture has been damaged so my family has sought refuge in a nearby school. I am so worried that I cannot sleep." Ichihira Toshie (27), a junior in Graphic Design, commented, "Immediately after the earthquake, on the twelfth, I spoke with my family, finding out that my home in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, has been damaged and my family was in refugee at a nearby school, but I have not been able to reach them since then and it has me worried. I am deeply grateful for the college's efforts to collect donations and help."

The school decided to give a scholarship to cover the entire tuition of these two students until their graduation. The school also plans to investigate who among the Japanese students have been harmed through the earthquake, comfort them through private meetings and take care of them to make sure they have no problem continuing their studies.

Jongyeong Kim (24, Unification Theology junior), who is leading the collection initiative, says that he "hopes to comfort his close Japanese friends even if only in a small way." Shinto Kurota (28, Unification Theology senior) from Japan conveyed his gratitude, "When I saw the tsunami, I could not help but shed tears. I am grateful to the warm hearts of my fellow students and the faculty."

The General Student Assembly of Beakseok University has installed a Collection Box to Help Japanese Earthquake Victims on March 15 in its Headquarters Building and Hall of Truth. The university plans to collect donations from faculty and students until March 18. Student President In-hui Park said, "We hope that our donations can help, even in a small way, so that [Japan] can go back to what it used to be like."

Woosong University in Daejeon also intends to take part in supporting Japanese residents who have suffered harm. Vice President of Woosong University, Dalyeong Lee, said, "We are planning to collect funds or items to help the Japanese residents who have suffered harm and are in despair."