Funerals and Status

As with weddings, funerals are often a measure of one's status in society. The number of wreaths the family receives as well as the identify and status of the donor are counted and analysed, as is the amount of money received.

If you are Korean and someone attended a funeral in your family or gave a gift of money, you are expected to reciprocate to an equal or greater degree, meaning that you must give the same amount of money or more, never less. Just as with weddings. Failure to do so can have very negative consquences in one's family, business or social life. It can mean relatives who never speak to you (or yours) again, losing out on business contracts, missing out on promotions/bonuses, etc. 

It is not unusual for a business person to attend 40-50 funerals/wedding a year and to give, on average, about W100,000 on each occasion. The higher your status or the status of the deceased, the more you are expected to give. 

Many companies also have a fund for giving funeral money. In some instances, it's a separate company fund, while in others, executives and/or staff each contribute a monthly or yearly amount. While in some companies, foreign staff members participate, in others they are not encouraged to do so as they are 'guests'. Foreign executives may be expected to attend funerals for some staff members' families.


K4E Editor: Korea4Expats.com tries to ensure that the information we provide is accurate and complete, so should you notice any errors or omissions in the content above please contact us at info@korea4expats.com. 



Photo: http://www.worldisround.com/articles/129742/photo9.html