President Moon's Last Lunar New Year Gift Sets Soar to 300,000 Won... "Can't Even Sell Them?" vs. "It's a Moon Gift"

President Moon Jae-in's Last Lunar New Year Gift Set
Resold for 170,000 to 300,000 Won

A post selling a Lunar New Year gift set of President Moon Jae-in on the secondhand trading platform Danggeun Market. Photo by Danggeun Market application capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] "Still, it's a presidential gift, isn't this too much?"

President Moon Jae-in's last Lunar New Year gift set during his term is being traded on the secondhand market for up to 300,000 won. Some criticize the act of trading the president's gift for money. On the other hand, there are opinions that it is the decision of the recipient.

Recently, posts selling President Moon's Lunar New Year gift sets have appeared on secondhand trading platforms such as Junggonara and Danggeun Market. This gift set was sent by President Moon and his wife to 15,000 people, including national merit recipients, socially disadvantaged groups, COVID-19 quarantine workers, and key figures. The contents include local specialties such as Gimpo Munbaeju (traditional liquor), honey, plum extract from Gwangyang, Jeollanam-do, omija syrup from Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and chestnuts from Buyeo, Chungcheongnam-do.

The enclosed New Year's card with the gift set contains President Moon's message: "Until I return to the people in the last year of my term, I will cherish each day and wrap up state affairs," and "Despite difficulties, we have achieved much. In the new year, we will leap high like a tiger."

In relation to this, some are reselling President Moon's gift sets secondhand. As of today (29th), the gift sets are reportedly being traded between 200,000 and 300,000 won. Meanwhile, empty boxes without the contents are also being sold. The empty boxes without the contents are said to be traded at an average price of 50,000 won.

A post selling a gift set of President Moon Jae-in uploaded on an online secondhand trading cafe. Photo by Online Cafe Capture

This has sparked debate among citizens. A self-employed person in their 40s, Mr. A, said, "Even if it's a presidential gift, I think the person can sell it if they want," adding, "If they are not a supporter of President Moon, that could be understandable." On the other hand, a company employee in their 30s, Mr. B, said, "I think trading a gift sent by the president secondhand is a bit inappropriate," and questioned, "Isn't it something that cannot be measured by money?"

Some suggest that the controversy over the resale of President Moon's gift sets may be related to approval ratings. It is pointed out that as the approval rating remains solid, critical voices are growing among President Moon's supporters. On the 28th, President Moon Jae-in's approval rating was recorded in the 40% range for the fourth consecutive week.

According to the Korea Gallup survey conducted in the fourth week of January (25th?27th), President Moon's job approval rating rose by 1 percentage point from the previous week to 42%, while disapproval dropped by 2 percentage points to 51%. Responses of "neither" and "don't know/refused" were each 3%.

President Moon's job approval rating has consistently stayed in the 40% range, recording 41% in the first week of January, 42% in the second week, 41% in the third week, and 42% in the fourth week.

By political party support, 84% of Democratic Party supporters gave positive evaluations. Among People Power Party supporters, 89% gave negative evaluations, and among the non-affiliated, the negative rate (58%) was higher than the positive rate (27%). By political ideology, the positive ratings were 76% for progressives, 43% for moderates, and 15% for conservatives.

This survey was conducted via telephone interviews with 1,000 men and women aged 18 and over nationwide, randomly selected from a mobile phone RDD sample frame (including 10% landline RDD). The response rate was 15.1%, and the sampling error was ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Detailed survey methodology and results can be found on the Korea Gallup website or the Central Election Survey Deliberation Commission website.

Meanwhile, during Chuseok in 2018, Blue House holiday gift sets consisting of local specialties such as Hongsae-u (red shrimp) from Ganghwa Island, anchovies from Wando, island bracken from Namhae, and Omegi liquor from Jeju Island were also listed on online secondhand trading cafes, trading at prices between 500,000 and 650,000 won. Prior to that, the so-called "Moon Jae-in watch," a wristwatch signed by President Moon, was traded on secondhand sites for around 700,000 won, and commemorative stamps of President Moon Jae-in were also traded on secondhand platforms.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.