Shopofkorea guides
Gifts for Foreign Friends: Korean Keepsakes I Packed Before Leaving
Official product names are shown in Korean. Product pages are in Korean; prices are in South Korean won (KRW).
It was about a week before I had to leave Korea after coming back during the break. I was writing out my packing list when my hand stopped at the last line. Gifts. The faces of my roommate, my closest friend, and the friends I share classes with all came flooding back. Before I'd left, I'd made a big promise — "I'll bring you something from Korea" — but when it actually came time to choose, I had no idea where to start.
At first I searched for "gifts for foreign friends," and inside the shopping site I just typed whatever came to mind. Pens, lanterns, the Taegukgi. I tried the Taegukgi twice. It's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Korea. But the more I scrolled, the harder it was to picture where my friends would actually put any of it. It felt too much like a souvenir shop. I wanted something they'd hold in their hands every day, so I ended up leaning toward pens and bookmarks.
I had two worries. What if something broke inside the suitcase, and did I have to give everyone something different?
Pens for My Closest Friend and My Roommate
My closest friend is always scribbling something in a notebook. I knew I had to include a pen, and the one I chose was the 금필 훈민정음 볼펜 (Geumphil Hunminjeongeum Ballpoint Pen). It's a ballpoint pen inspired by the Hunminjeongeum typeface, and the moment I opened the box I heard myself say, "This is beautiful."
I bundled it together with a notebook. My friend had been slowly learning Hangul, so she traced the characters on the pen with her finger, trying to read them. She couldn't get through all of them, but she asked, "Is this where Hangul began?" and we ended up talking about King Sejong for a long time. One pen gave us an entire evening's worth of conversation.
For my roommate I went a little lighter and chose the 전통무늬펜2종-훈민정음 (Traditional Pattern Pen Set of 2 – Hunminjeongeum). Two pens featuring the Hunminjeongeum typeface and traditional patterns come together in a case, so there was no need to wrap them separately.
My roommate and I do our assignments together at the kitchen table, and by the next day those pens were already sitting in the pen holder on the table. Seeing them used right away was the most gratifying thing of all.
Small Things to Share Among Several Friends
For the friends I share classes with, I decided on the 금장책갈피- 매화나무 (Gold-Plated Bookmark – Plum Blossom Tree). It's a bookmark made of metal with gold plating and a plum blossom pattern cut through it, with a yellow traditional decorative knot cord attached. It was far more beautiful in person than on screen, and I spent a while just looking at several of them lined up side by side.
They're small and light, so packing several barely added any weight at all. I told them that the plum blossom is the flower that blooms first, pushing through the cold, and one friend slipped hers right then and there into the book she was reading.
For one close female friend I gave the 손거울小-담화나비 (Small Hand Mirror – Damhwa Butterfly). It's a small hand mirror with peony and butterfly patterns rendered in mother-of-pearl (jagae), measuring just over 6 cm on each side, so it fits neatly into a pouch.
She kept opening and closing the mirror, marveling at how the mother-of-pearl changed color in different light. Since it could break, I tucked it between layers of clothing to carry it over.
I bought the 오죽선-강강술래 (Ojukson – Ganggangsullae Fan) purely for the picture. It's a fan with an illustration of people holding hands and moving in a circle in the Ganggangsullae (강강술래) style, and the more I looked at it the more I liked it. It's a handcrafted fan made of bamboo and hanji (Korean traditional paper).
The friend who received it opened the fan and hung it on her bedroom wall. She asked what the people in the picture were doing, and when I told her it was a game where people sing and move in a circle on the night of the full moon, she said we should all do it together sometime.
I also included the 탈열쇠고리-양반부네세트 (Mask Keychain – Yangban and Bune Set). It's a keychain featuring miniature versions of the Yangban and Bune faces from the Hahoe mask (하회탈) tradition.
She burst out laughing, saying the smiling Yangban mask looked just like her dad, and immediately attached it to her house key.
The Lantern I Carried Over Without Unwrapping
The item I deliberated over the longest before packing was the 미니좌등-사각기와 (Mini Sitting Lantern – Square Roof-Tile Style). It's a lantern with hanji and wood framing beneath a roof-tile-shaped top, featuring the Four Gracious Plants (sagunja) pattern and using an LED bulb. It stands just over 30 cm tall, making it a good size to place on one side of a desk.
It was the item I worried most about breaking in transit, but when it arrived the box was packed far more solidly than I'd expected. I pressed on it and it didn't budge at all, so I put it in my suitcase without unwrapping it. I handed it over still in its packaging when I arrived. The friend I owe the most to opened the wrapping on the spot and switched it on, and as a soft glow spread through the hanji, she was quiet for a long time before saying, "This feels like a Korean home."
Once I'd given everything out, my worries felt unnecessary. Because everyone got something different, they were all busy pulling out their own gifts to show each other, and the pens and bookmarks they use every day kept catching my eye afterward. In the end, the most practical approach turned out to be wrapping the mirror and fan separately among the clothes since they could break, and trusting the packaging on the lantern and carrying it as-is.
This account is based on an actual purchasing experience, with individuals and institutions anonymized and some scenes reconstructed.