Visiting a Korean Person’s Home? Bring a Gift! – Seoulistic

Visiting a Korean Person’s Home? Bring a Gift!

If a Korean person has been kind enough to invite you over to their house, you should be kind back. And giving gifts whenever visiting a Korean person’s home is pretty standard Korean cultural etiquette. Here are the ins and outs of gift giving when visiting a Korean person’s home!

Why do I need a gift? Isn’t my friendship enough?

Wow, that’s a really self-centered question… But long story short:

In Korea, people like their privacy, and there’s usually other family members living with each other.  So it might not be as common to invite people to homes in Korea as it might be in other parts of the world. So if you’re invited to a Korean person’s home, they are being pretty awesome. And don’t you want to be awesome back? Whether it be for a homemade Korean dinner or watching a 30 minute episode of the Simpsons, bringing a gift shows that you have manners in Korea. Korean people much rather prefer to go to someone’s house with a gift in hand than not. If they’re without gift, many Koreans will feel sorry for making an intrusion on someone else’s home turf. So if you want to be polite the Korean way, bring a gift that basically says “thanks for the invite homie!” or “sorry for intruding… and the smelly feet.” 

Of course it’s not something you MUST do. But it’s something we suggest for being polite the Korean way 🙂

What Gifts Should I Bring?

General Gifts – If you were just casually invited to someone’s house, gifts don’t have to be expensive at all and they definitely don’t have to be wrapped. Most of the time you can stop by a supermarket and get any food item and it will be just fine. A bag of chips may not be the most inspiring gift, but even something as simple as ice cream can bring a huge smile. Anything boxed and sharable is also a really good gift (i.e. a 10 pack of juice bottles or some apples). Cakes are also common things to bring and are great for everyone to eat after a monster homemade Korean dinner. If you know your hosts like to partake in alcoholic beverages, a bottle of wine or even whiskey are always good gifts. They also have the added benefit of breaking down awkward language barriers 🙂

Tip: The price of your gift should reflect the occasion (i.e. big holidays = box of expensive pears, 30 minute episode of the Simpsons = juice variety box).
 

Housewarming Parties (집들이 – jipdeuli) – We’ve covered this in a previous post, but if you’re going to someone’s housewarming party (집들이/jipdeuli), the traditional gift to give is toilet paper and laundry detergent. We also have tips for gifts for the Lunar New Year (설날-seollal) or the Harvest Festival (추석-chuseok). See link below. 

It’s not mandatory to bring a gift. And it’s not like they’ll hate you forever and ever. But they must really like you if they invite you to their house. So be awesome and bring a present to show them that your mama (and Seoulistic) taught you good manners 😉

If  you want to know what gifts to give for a wedding, major Korean holidays or a baby’s first birthday, see this post:
Korean Culture Says Buy These Gifts!

Keith
Keith
Keith Kim is a Korean-American who has been living in Korea for almost a decade. Being in a unique position as both a Korean and a non-Korean, he's put all his experience and knowledge for surviving in Korea in Survival Korean . Read it to learn how you can survive in Korea. Follow him on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

12 Comments

  1. Sam Tsai says:

    Interesting… In Chinese culture, gifts are also common, but giving pears is a big no-no (The word for “pear” is a homophone with the word for “leave” in Chinese so if you give a friend pears, you’re essentially telling them to leave).

  2. kim says:

    Can I bring home made drinks? (they are really delicious, it is just vodka mixed with a candy that is a little spicy ) 😛 or drawings?

  3. Misk says:

    Your comment…this is also true where I live in Tanzania. When you visit someones home its customary to bring something, it can be for the whole family (mostly something your mom can cook for you) or if they are kids in the house, something specially for them, that was the reason why I love guest!

  4. Anne says:

    My American sons have just returned from spending three weeks in a Korean family’s home. This family treated them like royalty and paid for many more things than I had anticipated. They will not take any more money from me. How do I now say thank you? I will send a letter of thanks but could I ship them a thank you gift? (Shipping from the states by FedEx is very expensive from the US!). Do you know if there’s a gift card to something I could send them? Are there companies that ship to Korea that I could order online from? What would I send? Any other thoughts on how to convey my gratitude? I will never truly be able to repay this family acting as parents – cooking, cleaning, housing and being amazing tour guides for travel all over the country – numerous day trips, several days in Seoul and a trip to Jeju island as well. Thanks for the help!

    • Ssong says:

      Pity that I find this comment and read it. Anything that you can show your heart (a gift from the heart) is fine. It does not necessarily need to be expensive, however, if they can feel your gratitude, then I would call it nice gift. Have a nice day.

  5. Ivette says:

    Hi!!
    I just love your page, it really helps me a lot haha
    Next week I’m going to be in korea and I’m invited to my internet friend’s house to dinner, I’m just so nervous! Because she lives with her mom, his brother and I still don’t know if her father is going to come haha
    I was thinking of byuing a cake, we can all share it, but I’m so lost at where to buy it! I want to buy a decent cake hahaha
    any recommendation?

  6. Miss K says:

    Something to eat, nothing unhealthy, nothing too sweet. Something classic but a bit unexpected (Asian Korean Pear but tie some cute ribbons on each one… You get the point)…Add your touch and definitely a nice hand-written note + photo(s) of people who are involved in the family, circle of friends, etc.

  7. Farzana says:

    Got an invite today to visit a home.
    Now, I K of what to.present for gift.

  8. Suzanne Dowdeswell says:

    We have been invited out for dinner to an expensive restaurant by new Korean friends. Should we bring a gift for them?

  9. Ann says:

    My 8 year old daughter made a new friend this year at a new school and she happens to be Korean. The parents would like the play date at their house. What should I have my daughter or myself, bring for the first play date for the parents and or child that shows respect and “thank you“ for inviting her into your home?
    Thanks!!!

  10. Joann says:

    I live in Phoenix Arizona, and my neighbors are from South Korea. They are constantly doing kind things for me for no particular reasons (other than I am a senior citizen). I would like to bring them a gift every now and then, but I’m not sure what would be a typical nice “no occasion“ gift. I know that they like bakery cakes, as they have given me lovely whipped cream cakes from a French bakery. What are some ideas with which I can reciprocate there a thoughtfulness?

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