Chuseok ‘nagging menus’ put a price on prying as younger Koreans seek to celebrate without stress

Young Koreans are turning intrusive holiday inquiries into satire and seeking gatherings that offer a refuge from family pressure.

A “nagging menu” recreated with English translations by ChatGPT CHATGPT

Around the Chuseok harvest holidays, a peculiar kind of menu makes the rounds online.

There is no food on it. In fact, what it serves up is far from appetizing.

“How is your job search going?” “When are you getting married?” “When are you having kids?” are just a few of the offerings — priced at 450,000 won ($110), 650,000 won and 950,000 won, respectively.

Known as the “nagging menu,” it puts imaginary price tags on questions relatives are notorious for asking during major holiday gatherings like Chuseok, from inquiries related to jobs and marriage to queries about children. The more intrusive the question, the higher the price.

The joke may be lighthearted, but the discomfort behind it is real.

In a 2026 survey of 1,000 adults by research firm PMI, 48.5 percent chose excessive interference and personal questions from relatives as the holiday custom they most wanted to change. Among those who said they were not looking forward to the holiday, 21.7 percent cited burdensome questions from relatives.

Chuseok is one of Korea’s biggest occasions for bringing families together. But for some, particularly people in their 20s and 30s still navigating careers and relationships, these reunions can come with a side of stress.

So they are finding their own satirical ways to survive it.

The nagging menu is just one. There are even online generators that allow users to choose the questions they dread most and set their own prices.

X user Ggooggoo's nagging menu quiz SCREEN CAPTURE

Customized menu based on Ggooggoo's nagging menu quiz SCREEN CAPTURE

One such generator, created by X user Ggooggoo, produces a personalized nagging menu based on answers to a short quiz. Since its launch around last Chuseok, more than 67,000 menus have been created as of Tuesday.

There are fun tests like a “Chuseok family gathering personality test” that sorts users into characters like the “nag shield" or “room-bound recluse,” while T-shirts featuring the nagging menu are also available online. 

Some are going a simpler route to avoid holiday nagging: Don’t be there to hear it. 

Fewer Koreans appear to be planning the usual family get-together this holiday season. In a survey of 1,000 adults by Hankook Research, 63 percent said they planned to meet family members who live separately, down from 68 percent ahead of last Chuseok and 70 percent ahead of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday.

But skipping the family gathering does not necessarily mean spending the holiday alone. If anything, they are finding new ways to have fun.

An online poster promoting a gathering called “Shelter from Nagging" SCREEN CAPTURE

Some are heading to so-called shelters, where cafes and gatherings offer refuge from family nagging and a chance to spend the holiday having fun with others in the same boat. Others may not use the label, but are offering much the same thing.

Jeong Yu-jin, who runs a small traditional Korean liquor bar, Hamut in Mapo District, western Seoul, is hosting a Chuseok gathering inviting people to “escape the nagging and get together.”

“Before I started working over the holidays, I used to see my relatives, too,” Jeong said. “But you get all those questions, ‘When are you getting married?’ ‘How is work going?’ I didn’t really want to hear them. In a way, starting the gathering was also my way of figuring out how to avoid them.”

Participants at Jeong’s Lunar New Year event at Hamut in Mapo District, western Seoul, earlier this year. JEONG YU-JIN

Simple dishes served at Jeong's gathering JEONG YU-JIN

Jeong has been hosting gatherings during major holidays since 2024. They usually draw up to 10 people, mostly in their late 20s to mid-30s, who spend the evening over traditional Korean liquor, simple dishes and conversation.

“Some come out thinking they might as well meet people since they don't have much to do over the holiday, while some really do come because they don’t want to hear the nagging.”

But escaping the family gathering does not necessarily mean escaping Chuseok itself.

A poster promoting Taeyang’s “Battle for Holiday Money” gathering TAEYANG

Another gathering, dubbed Battle for Holiday Money (roughly translated), takes a familiar holiday scene of relatives playing games and children receiving pocket money from older family members and recreates it among participants in their 20s and 30s.

Organizer Taeyang will have them compete in a series of games and missions, first individually and later in teams, with prizes awaiting the winners.

“These days, not every young person goes back to their hometown or spends long stretches of the holiday with family,” said Taeyang, running the gathering with members of his crew "Zero Sugar" in Hongdae in Mapo District, western Seoul. “People are staying in Seoul who still feel it would be a shame to spend Chuseok like just another weekend.”

Rather than simply recreating traditional holiday activities, the event is designed to let people of a similar age meet and play together while still getting a taste of the holiday atmosphere, Taeyang said.

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]