A joint investigation by police, firefighters and forensic officials is under way at a lithium battery plant in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, Tuesday. The death toll from a massive fire at the plant the previous day has reached 23. Yonhap

Malicious comments against foreign nationals who were killed or injured in the deadly Aricell plant fire in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, have begun popping up online. Experts warned that such comments can cause pain to the living victims and the families of the living and the dead, and called on people to refrain from spreading hatred against immigrant workers.

The death toll from the deadly blaze at the lithium battery manufacturing plant reached 23, as of Tuesday. Among the victims, 17 were Chinese, five were Korean and one was Laotian, according to police.

Several online posts containing malicious comments against foreign victims reflected hatred toward Chinese nationals.

In the far-right online community D.C. Inside, several disparaging remarks against the victims and hateful expressions have been posted, such as “The event does not touch me because they are Chinese,” and “Most of the victims are Chinese. LOL.”

“Over 90 percent of them are not Korean but foreigners, so why does it matter?” another comment read.

Yoo Hyun-jae, a professor of newspaper and broadcasting at Sogang University, highlighted how incredibly offensive these kinds of remarks are. He stated, “We should not allow online communities to become a place for emotional release,” explaining that the psychology behind such hateful comments stems from a desire for attention.

“Korea needs to improve awareness and establish domestic laws that strictly punish online violence,” the professor said in reference to acts and expressions of hatred against foreign nationals.