Korean gift-giving customs – Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)

February 2, 2015September 26, 2015 Kalbi Festivals, special days and rituals, Gift giving Chuseok gifts, korean culture, korean thanksgiving

Like the American Thanksgiving, Chuseok (추석 – Korean Thanksgiving) is considered as an important festival by the Koreans and family members gather together to celebrate this festival. Chuseok falls on August 15 of the lunar calendar and its purpose is to celebrate the harvest. In South Korea, there is a 3-day national holiday for Chuseok and many people go back to their hometown to celebrate it with their family members. People also buy gifts for their family members and close friends. Continue reading →

Korean gift-giving customs – Cash as gift

December 19, 2014January 10, 2015 Kalbi Gift giving cash, chusoek, doljanchi, first birthday celebration, funeral, korean culture, korean thanksgiving, lunar new year, seollal, wedding

In other countries, cash may be regarded as an impersonal gift and the giver may be considered as lacking sincerity in giving gifts. However, as you may already notice, Koreans in fact prefer gifts which are practical and so cash is an acceptable gift for a lot of occasions. Continue reading →

Korean gift-giving customs – Spam as a premium gift

December 10, 2014December 13, 2014 Kalbi Food and drinks, Gift giving army stew, budaejigae, chuseok, gift, korean culture, korean thanksgiving, lunar new year, seollal, spam

I would like to start a series of posts relating to Korean gift-giving customs. In this gift-giving series, I will set out the appropriate types of gifts for different occasions according to Korean customs and explain the rationale or history behind. Today is the first post in the series and it’s about giving canned food as a premium gift in South Korea.

Continue reading →