Koreans celebrate White Day, pick favorite celebrities

By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila Bulletin 

MANILA, Philippines – Today, March 14, Koreans celebrate White Day, a traditional event observed a month after Valentine’s Day.

White Day is when Korean men are expected to give women candies and other gifts.

Kim Soo Hyun (www.newsen.com)

Kim Tae Hee (www.newsen.com)

To mark the event, several Korean websites held surveys and asked men and women about the gifts they want to give and receive and their favorite celebrities.

A Korean internet shopping mall held a survey among 246 women for White Day. Asked which gifts they do not want to receive on White Day, 38.6 percent said they don’t want to receive candies while 29.7 said they don’t want to get flower bouquets.

Another 12.2 percent of the women said they don’t want to get teddy bears, and 7.3 percent said couple t-shirts.

For gifts they want to receive, 62.6 percent said they want to receive accessories, 12.6 percent said they want tablet PCs and smart phones, 8.9 percent said they want concert tickets and 5.3 percent said they want fashion accessories.

Job portal site Albamon also conducted a survey among 573 male and female college students.

The male participants were asked to choose which celebrities they want to give a gift on White Day. Actress Kim Tae Hee came out on top, receiving 20.6 percent of the responses. She is followed by singer IU (19.4 percent), Miss A’s Suzy (4 percent), actress Shin Se Kyung (3.2 percent) and Lee Hyori (3 percent).

On the other hand, female respondents picked popular actor Kim Soo Hyun as the No. 1 celebrity they want to receive gifts on White Day. Kim got 15 percent followed by singer and actor Lee Seung Gi (9.2 percent), Won Bin (7.9 percent), Kang Dong Won (5.9 percent) and So Ji Sub (4 percent).

Korean dating site Good Time With Me also held a White Day survey.

A total of 318 respondents were asked about their favorite celebrities on White Day.

Asked which celebrities they wanted to receive candy kisses from, 39.6 percent chose Kim Soo Hyun while 27 percent picked Kang Dong Won and 23 percent chose Won Bin.

On celebrities they wanted to date on White Day, Kim Tae Hee was the No. 1 choice, getting 26.3 percent of the votes. She is followed by singer IU (22.8 percent) and actress Lee Min Jung (13.2 percent).

Job portal Media Job also asked 455 respondents which female idol they wanted to give candy on White Day.

Girls Generation was the No. 1 choice, garnering 83 votes followed by IU with 55. Third place is 2NE1 with 52 votes, followed by Wonder Girls (47), T-ara and Sistar.

Link to my original article: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/354223/koreans-celebrate-white-day-pick-favorite-celebrities