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CJ CGV X Ongi scale Ongi Mailbox up to a nationwide program

▶ A customer using Ongi Mailbox newly established in CGV Jeju.

Share your problems that are hard to tell other people with CGV Ongi Mailbox!

CJ CGV announced on June 12 that it had set up new Ongi Mailboxes in six new cinemas, including CGV Gwangju Terminal, Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan Samsan, Incheon, and Jeju.

Ongi Mailbox sends handwritten replies to anonymous letters about personal problems.

CJ CGV signed a business agreement with Ongi, an incorporated association, in December 2021, and has since installed and ran Ongi Mailboxes for the first time as a movie theater chain. In the first year, CJ CGV operated the mailbox in just six theaters in Seoul with high foot traffic and that cover many age groups. Starting in January this year, CGV has since expanded the service to other regions and installed the mailbox in CGV Seomyeon and Jeonju Hyoja. Seeing the enormous interest and response from customers in the provincial areas, CGV has decided to install the mailbox in six additional theaters. Today, a total of 14 movie theaters including, CGV Yongsan I-Park Mall, Wangsimni, Yeongdeungpo, Yeouido, Yeonnam, Gangbyeon, Seomyeon, Jeonju Hyoja, Gwangju Terminal, Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan Samsan, Incheon, and Jeju, offer the Ongi Mailbox services.

Ongi Mailbox is a non-profit activity of the incorporated association Ongi. To use the service, users need to write an anonymous letter about their personal issues including the address they’d like to receive the reply to, and insert the letter in the mailbox. They will then receive a handwritten letter with comforting words. The letters are written by about 400 volunteer Ongi mail workers, who are in their 20s to 70s.

Between January 2022 and May 2023, as many as 4,891 letters were sent through CGV Ongi Mailbox. Letters covered a wide spectrum of topics from career path, studies, relationships with people, work life, health, and love, to breakups, feeling lethargic, and depression. CJ CGV employees also served as Ongi mail carriers themselves every year as a corporate social contribution activity and wrote handwritten replies to letters sent to CGV, spreading heartfelt messages.

Ongi Mailboxes newly installed in CGV Gwangju Terminal, Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan Samsan, Incheon, and Jeju.

CJ CGV will continue to expand Ongi Mailbox and strengthen its role not only as a cultural space, but also as a psychological safety net that continues to relieve depression and offer a source of comfort to the people in the community. Visit the CGV website or the mobile app and check the event page to learn how to use the Ongi Mailbox.

Jo Hyun-sik, CEO of Ongi, said, “Just getting warm regards from someone gives you the strength to get through the day. We are sending out letters thinking that you may not be able to change the world with a handwritten letter, but you can change the world of the person who’s receiving our message.”

Jo Jung-eun, Head of ESG Management at CJ CGV said, “Following the installation of the new Ongi Mailboxes in Busan and Jeonju in January, we have decided to spread the mailbox across the nation to allow more customers to experience the service. Just like people empathize with other people's problems, hardships, and joy in life by watching the movie, we hope that more people can experience the emotional moments of exchanging empathy through the CGV Ongi Mailbox.”

▶CGV website (click here)