[Korea Quiz] Wedding gift dilemma

Find the answer at the bottom of the page.

Cash is a common gift in Korea for various celebratory events like a baby's first birthday, Lunar New Year or weddings. For funerals, too, guests prepare cash in a white envelope to give to the grieving family.

However, with surging inflation in recent years, there has been upward pressure on the amount of money given as congratulatory or condolence gifts, leading many Koreans to face a dilemma of how much to spend on such occasions.

The best guideline, according to many Koreans, is the level of your relationship with the person who will receive the gift.

More specific guidelines could be found in the results of a recent online survey which asked 1,177 workers and university students for their opinions on the appropriate amounts for such cash gifts.

If a coworker you're not close with is getting married, the most appropriate amount to pay, 65 percent of the respondents said, is 50,000 won ($37), while 21 percent said 100,000 won would be ideal.

For a colleague with whom you frequently communicate outside office hours, 100,000 won was chosen by about the same percentage of respondents, while 50,000 was picked by slightly more than 20 percent.

The most preferred amount of congratulatory money for a close relative, friend or acquaintance was 100,000 won (36.1 percent).

Another survey, conducted by Job Korea, showed that salaried workers in Korea spend an average of 1.4 million won a year on congratulatory and condolence money.

Answer: c