Park Bo-gum, hamburgers, fewer donations: words that shape 2018 Christmas in Korea
Myeongdong Street in central Seoul was crowded with citizens on Sunday, two days ahead of Christmas. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
Christmas has come to town. Here are words that represent this year's Christmas in Korea.
Actor Park Bo-gum. Courtesy of Blossom Entertainment
1. Park Bo-gum
Who are you going to spend Christmas with? And if you are able to spend the holiday with a star, who would you select?
According to an online survey, actor Park Bo-gum got the most votes. He received 141 votes or 24.6 percent out of 573 cast in the survey conducted by Seven Edu between Nov. 23 and Dec. 21.
K-pop boyband EXO member Do Kyung-soo was second, followed by V of BTS and Kang Daniel of boy band Wanna One and actor Jung Hae-in.
2. Hamburgers
More people are celebrating Christmas at home. Korea Times file. From Getty Images Bank
Temperatures are hovering below zero. And this encourages many people to have food delivered instead of dining out. Then a question arises, which food is delivered most frequently?
According to food delivery app Yogiyo, on Christmas Eve, meals for multiple eaters are in high demand, while on Christmas, meals for one-person are popular.
The former includes fried chicken, pizza or bossam (boiled pork served with cabbage or lettuce wraps). The latter includes hamburgers or Jajangmyeon (black bean sauce noodles).
3. Fewer donations
The Community Chest of Korea's Love Thermometer Tower at Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, shows 21.7C in the morning on Dec. 16. Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jin
Fewer people are making donations.
According to Community Chest of Korea, the Love Thermometer Tower at Gwanghwamun Square did not raise much this year.
The amount raised from Nov. 20 to Dec. 21 was about 157.7 billion won, about 82 percent of the same period last year.
According to Statistics Korea's donation yearly status survey, 26. 7 percent said they made a donation in 2017, down 9.7 percent from 2011.
A big data analysis by Daumsoft on keywords on SNS platforms also showed the trend of fewer donations.
The number of mentions of the word "donation" on SNS platforms as of Dec. 18 this year was 336,988, down 105,462 from 2014.
President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook watch a play in Seoul on Dec. 21. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae
4. President Moon Jae-in on vacation
President Moon Jae-in is on a four-day break ― from Saturday to Christmas Day.
"President Moon is taking a day off today," a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters Monday. "He is going to spend Christmas with his mother and family."
5. Birthday of late leader's mother
This file photo from North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Dec. 19 2011 shows North Korea's anti-Japanese war heroine Kim Jong-suk with her son Kim Jong-il, who became North Korea's second leader. Yonhap
Religious anniversaries are banned in North Korea and Christmas is no exception.
But December 24 is the anniversary of the birth of North Korea's anti-Japanese war heroine Kim Jong-suk. Kim is better known as wife of North Korea's founder and first leader Kim Il-sung and mother of second leader Kim Jong-il.
To commemorate the 101st birth anniversary of the heroine, a landscape painting and handicraft exhibition opened on Friday at the Korean Art Gallery. The exhibition of about 100 Korean paintings, oil paintings, embroidery and craftworks will last until Dec. 28.