Congratulatory Money is 99,000 Won?..."ATM Fee -1,000 Won"

Asked to Deliver Congratulations Money Instead of Junior
Story of Paying After ATM Fee Sparks Debate
"Harsh" vs "Should Be Given Separately"

A story of a worker who experienced a ridiculous situation after asking a junior colleague to deliver a congratulatory gift on their behalf is gaining late but intense attention online.

Recently, a post titled "The MZ Generation Really Is Different" has been resurfacing on online communities. The post appears to have been written in December of last year.

The author, Mr. A, said, "I couldn’t attend a junior colleague’s wedding, so I transferred 100,000 won to another junior who was attending and asked them to pay the congratulatory gift on my behalf," adding, "After the wedding, the married junior contacted me and thanked me for sending a generous amount but asked what the meaning of 99,000 won was."

As the recent debate over congratulatory money continues, an article titled "The MZ Generation Is Indeed Different," published last December, is gaining renewed attention.
[Photo by Asia Economy]

Mr. A continued, "When I asked the junior who paid the congratulatory gift on my behalf, they said there was a 1,000 won ATM fee," and explained, "So they paid 99,000 won. If they had asked me to send the extra 1,000 won, I would have sent it."

He added, "The ATM definitely withdrew 100,000 won, so it seems like they exchanged 9,000 won somewhere else."

Although the post was written about three months ago, it has recently gained renewed attention as debates about congratulatory gifts have become a hot topic. Additionally, content featuring characteristics of the MZ generation (born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s) has been very popular in recent variety shows and dramas.

As this story drew attention, netizens shared various opinions such as, "The world is becoming increasingly harsh," "Why should the person running the errand bear the fee? The sender should have sent more," and "The author seems to lack common sense."

Amid ongoing debates about congratulatory gifts, on the 8th, the recruitment platform company Incruit also released the results of a survey on appropriate wedding congratulatory gift amounts conducted with 1,177 participants including university students, job seekers, and office workers.

According to the results, 65.1% responded that the appropriate amount for "a colleague in the same team but less close and only meets during collaboration" is 50,000 won, while 36.1% said 100,000 won is the most appropriate for "friends or acquaintances who are in contact almost daily and meet frequently."