2 days ago
Digital gifting was convenient — until it started to feel like new social obligation
'Too easy to ignore': Korean Gen Z on the perks and pressures of online gifting culture
Twenty-three-year-old Kim begins her day the way many young Koreans do — by checking her phone.
As she scrolls through unread messages on the messenger app KakaoTalk, a small gift icon appears next to an old classmate's profile. It's his birthday. Kim hesitates. They haven't spoken in over a year, but she remembers he sent her a delivery food coupon last fall. After a moment of deliberation, she returns the gesture with a Starbucks "gifticon" of equal value.
That tiny icon, built into Korea's most-used messaging app, is part of KakaoTalk Gifts, a feature that lets users send anything from coffee coupons to luxury goods. Among the most popular offerings are gifticons — digital vouchers redeemable for specific items like beverages or desserts.
This isn't a fringe phenomenon. According to Kakao, the company's prepaid commerce balance, or money preloaded for gift-related purchases, reached 96.6 billion won ($74 million) in the fourth quarter of 2024, a 3.5-fold increase from a year before. Nationwide, e-coupon services, including gifticons, formed a market worth 8.6 trillion won in the same year.
With the rise of these services, digital gift-giving has evolved into a kind of social currency, especially for Generation Z, or those born from 1997 to 2012.
In a survey of 100 Koreans in their 20s active on social media, conducted by The Korea Herald this year, over 90 percent reported using online gifting platforms. Nearly 97 percent cited convenience as the top reason.
Twenty percent said they spend between 30,000 to 50,000 won each month on digital gifts, while another 20 percent spend up to 70,000 won — roughly equivalent to a full day's work on minimum wage.
'It's really just a digital extension of what we already do,' said Kim, 26, who recently graduated from university. 'My family gives and receives envelopes for Seollal, for Chuseok, for weddings, for first birthdays. We've always had a give-and-take culture.'
What's changed, she said, is how automated and accessible it's become. 'Kakao will send you reminders. 'Don't forget to celebrate!' Then it shows you a perfectly curated list of gifts. Rice cakes, cake sets, bubble tea … all just a click away.'
Trapped by politeness
But many also admit that the act no longer feels optional.
'The gift option makes it weird to just congratulate someone's birthday with words,' said Jeon, 25, a bartender in Seoul. 'There's this silent expectation. If you don't send something, it feels like you're being cold — even if you're just not that close anymore.'
Jeon shared that she's sometimes felt 'held hostage by politeness,' especially when the recipient is someone she no longer has a meaningful connection with. 'I once got a Baskin-Robbins coupon from a girl I hadn't seen since high school. I appreciated it, but then I felt guilty. Her birthday came two months later, and I ended up sending her something back, even though we hadn't talked in years.'
Twenty-nine-year-old Kim, a graduate student juggling classes and part-time work, said the absence of a 'no thanks' button makes it worse. 'You either ghost the message, which feels rude, or accept that you owe them.'
Kim added that the emotional toll doesn't end with the gift itself. 'If someone gives me a coupon, I feel like I have to reply, thank them, keep the conversation going ... even if we're not actually close. It's not friendship — it's etiquette.'
Park, 25, a user experience design student, described it as a cycle of guilt. 'You want to stop, but then you remember they sent you something last year. I've definitely sent coffee coupons out of guilt.'
Some even confessed to 'strategic gifting' — sending small tokens to maintain surface-level connections or avoid awkward silences. 'It's emotional labor,' Park said. 'But instead of doing it in person, we're doing it through vouchers.'
Park, 28, recently returned to college after military service and a gap year. As an unpaid intern preparing for graduate school, he finds the economics of gift-giving difficult to justify.
'Most of the gifts my friends wish for are things like convenience store sets, desserts or drink coupons,' he said. 'One item doesn't cost much, but when you have 20 friends ... it adds up.'
Park sometimes scrolls through friends' Kakao profiles to check their wish lists, trying to find gifts that look meaningful but cost less. 'It's like tactical generosity,' he said, laughing. 'I want to seem thoughtful, but I'm broke.'
He added that digital gifts also create a strange kind of visibility. 'Everyone sees that you didn't send something. You start comparing. Did this friend get more? Did I forget someone?'
New rules for digital giving?
As gifting continues to digitize, some Gen Z Koreans are beginning to question the expectations surrounding it. A few are starting to set personal rules: no reciprocal gifts, limits on birthday spending or silent 'likes' instead of presents.
'I've started replying with a message instead of a gift,' said Jeon. 'Sometimes I say, 'Let's grab coffee in person next time.' If they're real friends, they'll understand.'
Others are trying to step back from gifting altogether.
'I told my close friends: no gifts this year. Let's just meet,' said Kim. 'Honestly, that made us closer.'
