Shopofkorea guides
Korean Souvenirs for International Events: The Saekdong Nubi Pencil Case
Official product names are shown in Korean. Product pages are in Korean; prices are in South Korean won (KRW).
When companies or organizations heading to overseas events get in touch, the first question is almost always the same: "We want to give something to hundreds of foreign participants — one each — that feels Korean and fits in a bag. What do you have?"
Having received this kind of order many times, the thought process tends to follow the same sequence. At first, people search broadly — terms like "gifts for foreigners" or "Korean traditional gifts." Then, once the quantity is fixed, the search terms become more specific: "traditional pencil case bulk order" or "logo-printed pencil case." After that, 3 problems typically arise. The items have to be carried on a plane, so they must be light and unbreakable. The recipients vary in age and gender, so the item must be useful to everyone. And the event name needs to appear on it.
Recently, a coordinator at one company went through the same deliberation and settled on a pencil case. Because one would be placed at each participant's seat for the opening ceremony, she said it had to be immediately recognizable as something from Korea the moment it was seen on the table. What she chose was the 색동무늬 누비띠필통 (saekdong-patterned nubi-tti pencil case — a quilted pencil case in the traditional Korean multicolor stripe pattern).
The saekdong (색동) pattern is a traditional Korean design made by joining strips of multiple colors together, and it signifies joyful, celebratory occasions. The case also incorporates the nubi (누비) technique — a method of layering fabric and stitching it densely — along with a traditional Korean knot ornament. Because of this, the moment you hold it in your hand, it reads as a Korean object without any lengthy explanation. It measures approximately 20 cm wide, 6 cm tall, and 3 cm thick, and weighs just over 30 g. Even packed by the hundreds into boxes, the weight is not a significant burden. Because it is made of fabric and a zipper, there is no risk of breakage, and since it contains no batteries or liquids, it is also easy to check as luggage. At 3,990 KRW per piece, it is relatively easy to budget for even large-scale events.
Check the mockup before finalizing the logo
For event orders, requests to print an event name or logo on the outside of the pencil case come in frequently. In these cases, the most reliable approach is to receive a mockup first. Whether the logo reads well on fabric, or whether plain text alone looks cleaner, can only be judged by seeing it on screen directly. After exchanging mockups a couple of times and confirming the final version, the coordinators always seem visibly more at ease. Corporate orders often require a tax invoice or transaction statement, so please mention this at the time of ordering.
Slipping something small inside the pencil case makes opening it more enjoyable than handing it over empty. This particular company placed one gold-foil bookmark engraved with a map of Korea inside each pencil case. For VIP guests at the event or local staff who needed a little extra appreciation, many clients also prepare the 금장 책갈피-국보 10종세트 (gold-foil bookmark – National Treasure 10-piece set). 10 bookmarks, each based on a different national treasure, come together as one set, making it a natural way to introduce Korean cultural heritage as you present the gift.
Tell us your departure date first
Overseas events have fixed departure dates, so schedules can become tight quickly. When receiving the items by courier feels too uncertain, some clients come directly to the shop once packaging is complete and load the boxes into their vehicle themselves. This company did exactly that — they came to collect everything in person just before their departure. The larger the quantity, the more time printing and packaging require, so the most reliable thing you can do is share your departure date before anything else, even before specifying the product.
I can also share what we heard about the event itself afterward. After the opening ceremony, participants returned to their seats, picked up the pencil cases, and spent a good while looking closely at the saekdong stripes. Quite a few people asked what the pattern meant. When the coordinator explained that these were "the colors used in Korea to celebrate," some people transferred the pens from their bags into the pencil case right then and there. A pencil case is something that stays on a desk long after an event ends — and the event name printed on it stays there just as long.
If you also need something lighter to hand out to a larger number of people, such as visitors stopping by a booth, many clients prepare the 태극기 버튼 (Taegukgi button — a Taegukgi-design badge) alongside the pencil cases. It is a small badge measuring 3.3 cm on each side and weighing 20 g, so carrying a handful of them is no trouble at all. Each one is 990 KRW. Pinned to a bag or a lanyard, it also serves as a visible marker identifying the Korean team throughout the event.
When choosing a group gift for foreign recipients, what it ultimately comes down to is finding something light, useful to everyone, and instantly recognizable as Korean. The reason the 색동무늬 누비띠필통 continues to go out steadily for event orders is that it satisfies all 3 of these criteria at once.
This account is based on actual purchasing situations, with individuals and organizations kept anonymous and some scenes partially reconstructed.