South Korean celebrities remembered the victims of the ferry Sewol sinking in social networking services and handwritten letters Thursday, the first anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 304 lives.

Actress Jung Ryeo-won posted a picture of a yellow duck with the message, "Let's remember April 16, 2014" on her Instagram blog on Wednesday.

Kim Woo-bin, who rose to stardom after starring in the Korean comedy film "Twenty," was belatedly learned to have written a letter to Kim Hye-seon, one of the high school students killed in the sinking who was a huge fan of his.

The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol sank off Jindo Island off the southwest on April 16, 2014, leaving 295 people dead and nine others unaccounted for. Most of the victims were high school students on a field trip to the southern resort island of Jeju.

"I bet where you're now would be more beautiful than here where you lived. Someday, after a long time, Let's take lots of photos together and make many good memories when we come to meet there... Thanks for being my fan and supporting me," Kim wrote in the letter released on the Internet.

Kim Woo-bin's talent agency, Sidus HQ, said the victim's friends called the agency to ask the actor to write a letter to her and he gladly accepted the request.

Jonghyun from the boy band SHINEE wrote on his Twitter account on April 9: "Perhaps everybody didn't forget the Sewol ferry tragedy... Please remember the children. I still feel empty although I have never exchanged a word with or seen them.... We should not forget for the children, for those left behind and the future."

Kim Dong-wan, a member of the veteran boy band Shinhwa, called for measures to prevent any recurrence of such an incident.

"Many children were killed. Would compensation be the only answer? Bereaved families of the victims and the people want a nation that makes organized efforts to prevent any recurrence of such an incident. Please exert efforts to find out the fundamental cause of the problem," he wrote on his Facebook account on Monday. (Yonhap)