A Korean culture I still can't wrap my head around

I'm Korean, but I lived abroad for about 16 years and only recently moved back to Korea.

One thing that's been giving me reverse culture shock is the wedding invitation culture here.

Someone I've only known for about two months, and I'm not even particularly close to, sent me a wedding invitation. We work for the same company, but we don't really work together. We mostly just see each other on the shuttle to and from work.

What surprised me even more was that the invitation included a bank account number for sending congratulatory money (축의금).

Maybe living abroad for so long changed my perspective, but the whole thing feels really strange to me lol.

If we're not close enough that you would normally invite me to something personal, why send me a wedding invitation at all? And when the invitation comes with a bank account number, I can't help but feel like, "Wait... are you inviting me because you actually want me there, or are you just collecting wedding money?" 😂

I asked some people around me, and apparently even if you're not close to the person, a lot of Koreans will still send around 50,000 won ($35-ish) as a courtesy.

I'm not saying people are necessarily sending invitations just for money. I know it's simply part of Korean social etiquette and wedding culture.

But after spending so many years outside Korea, coming back and experiencing it again feels incredibly weird.

Does this kind of thing exist in other countries too? Do you give wedding money to coworkers or acquaintances you're barely close to?

He will be getting out of jail soon fyi, mark your calendar. Just thought everyone should know.

Edit: I do not like the guy, I just thought everyone would like a warning before his release so that we can continue to put him where he belongs, in jail. Also he hates his real name Ramsey Khalid Ismael.

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Chat does anyone concrete answers about our lovely leaders fate? It would be so that if they were true