“Mom and the subway” and “I like you”…a false alarm spawned a ‘true story’

After the urgent disaster text was sent out at 6:40 a.m. on the 31st to alert the Seoul area, a variety of scenes were shared online, ranging from photos and information on evacuation luggage to stories of hurried love confessions. A heartwarming story안전놀이터 of a man running to a subway station with his mother on his back in a hurry also attracted attention.

On Twitter on the 1st, photos of ‘evacuation luggage’ with the hashtag ‘survival bag’ were posted one after another before and after the alert was issued the previous day.

On the 31st, a Seoul resident packed a ‘survival bag’. The bag contains a half-shell and a can of tuna. Community Captures

Disaster preparedness items posted by a citizen on the 31st. Cup noodles, bottled water, chargers, and other items are displayed on a desk. Social media capture

“Packed for evacuation” photos show a variety of backpacks filled with canned goods, instant meals, bottled water, and emergency supplies.

Users commented, “It’s great that you thought to pack,” “I was wondering if I should pack too,” and “You’ll never use it.” Some said, “I’m sure you’ll never need it.

Some wondered, “What do you really need to pack in a real-life situation?”

A list of items that should go in a survival backpack. It includes emergency food, first aid supplies, a change of clothes, cooking utensils, a radio, and hot packs. Social media capture

One post that caught my eye was an actual “survival backpack,” with a picture of what to pack in an emergency.

The user’s post features a drawing and a list of items, including emergency food and first aid supplies, a change of clothes, cooking utensils, a radio, and a hot pack, all arranged around a backpack in the center.

Comments on the post include “I need to get one of these,” “I heard radio waves are the last thing you need,” “stock up on bottled water,” and “order what you don’t have first.”

Capturing the online community

There were also stories of people sending “confession texts” to their crushes. At around 6:40 a.m., when the disaster text was sent, they confessed what they had been hiding in what felt like a moment of great urgency.

“I feel like something is going on out there right now, but I’m just going to say it. I like you,” and then, after the emergency situation was cleared up, he sent a message saying, “It was a surprise April Fool’s Day planned by the city and me,” and captured the situation.

“The moment I received the disaster text, I put my cat in my bag and ran to the underground parking lot,” “I live in Gangnam and evacuated by car to Suwon,” and other stories were posted one after another.

Twitter capture

“I came to the subway station with my mom, thinking I was going to die,” one person wrote on the Everytime free message board at a university in Seoul.

Online community capture

“You ran to the station in the meantime? That’s amazing,” the poster wrote, followed by, “I was just so freaked out, I thought there was a real war going on. Only my mom was impressed,” which brought a heartwarming laugh.