Home > Business > Industry

Koreans increasingly prefer gifting money in creative ways over physical presents

Published: 13 Feb. 2026, 07:00

CHO YONG-JUN
[email protected]

A handmade cardboard ATM spits out a seemingly endless stream of 10,000 won ($7) bills [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Premium Korean beef, gift cards and gift sets, cosmetics — people give all kinds of things to those they care about on birthdays, anniversaries and traditional holidays such as Seollal, or Lunar New Year. For Koreans, however, money has become one of the gifts they most want to receive on special occasions, but not necessarily because they’re inconsiderate or too lazy to shop.

Young Koreans in particular have found creative ways to gift cash to their parents.

In a viral short-form video that has garnered over 20 million views on social media, a son presents his father with what appears to be a handmade cardboard ATM.

A handmade cardboard ATM designed to spit cash [SCREEN CAPTURE]

After the father inserts his credit card into the machine and punches in the passcode provided by his son, the ATM spits out a seemingly endless stream of 10,000 won ($7) bills, almost like a scene from a comedy movie.

The sound of joy from both the dad and the mom, the 638,000-plus likes and the 3,000 comments suggest that countless others wouldn’t mind receiving or giving the same gift.

The video has earned so much attention that the creator of the handmade ATM is preparing to commercialize his idea and launch a full-fledged product by April.

The market for creative cash gift presentations is booming. A quick search on Naver Shopping or Kakao’s gift section reveals hundreds of different products, all designed to help gift wrap cash. Some are disguised as vitamin supplements, while others resemble instant coffee packets — with, of course, cash where the powder would normally be.

Money bouquet sold at a Naver Shopping store [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Perhaps the most iconic method is the don-dabal, or the money bouquet, in which banknotes are rolled or folded into origami flowers to create an arrangement with “petals” made of currency.

Notably, one flower shop dedicates an entire category to money bouquet sets, which are priced at 13,000 won and have over 10,000 registered reviews with an average rating of 4.86 out of 5 on Naver Shopping.

“I always wanted to present gifts in a creative way,” Ha Dong-hyun, the creator of the cardboard ATM, told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “The idea of gifting someone an ATM that spits out cash has always been in my head; it’s just that I wasn’t able to make that a reality due to my financial situation.”

Directly giving cash was not always the norm in Korea. For centuries, it was considered impolite, as Confucian values discourage prioritizing monetary wealth over moral or spiritual values.

However, as society has become more pragmatic, cash has emerged as many people's No. 1 gift option.

“There are way too many products in the market, and it has become much more difficult to gift something that the recipient actually wants,” said Kwak Keum-joo, a professor emeritus of psychology at Seoul National University.

“As a result, more people began to like the idea of allowing the recipient to buy what they want rather than risk giving them the wrong gift.”

Banknotes disguised as vitamin pills [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The shift doesn’t mean that people are gifting cash through bank transfers or in simple white envelopes. Instead, many look for creative methods that involve thoughtful packaging so they are not perceived as snobbish or materialistic.

“When you spend the time and effort to gift wrap cash, it shows that you are not just giving them money because you’re lazy and didn’t want to choose a gift,” Prof. Kwak said. “You are showing the other person how much you care about them and how much you value their choice.”

Ha, the maker of the cardboard ATM, experienced this firsthand with his parents.

“I think it’s more rational nowadays to let people buy what they actually want and need,” he said.

“My father very much enjoyed my gift and valued the experience too,” he said. “He seemed to be very proud of me.”

BY CHO YONG-JUN [[email protected]]