"You Gave 500,000 Won for the First Child"—Aunt Criticized After Giving 300,000 Won at Her Nephew's Second Child's First-Birthday Party [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News] An online controversy has erupted over the story of a woman who gave 300,000 won as a cash gift at her older brother and sister-in-law's second child's first-birthday party. She was reprimanded for giving less than the 500,000 won she had given for the first child and eventually sent the difference.
According to Newsis on the 4th, a post titled 'The Story About My Sister-in-Law's First-Birthday Party Envelope Has Reached Me' was recently uploaded to an online community. The writer, identified as A, arrived late at her older brother and sister-in-law's second child's first-birthday party last week because of a personal appointment. She therefore sent a 300,000-won cash gift in advance through her mother.
A few days later, however, A's mother contacted her and asked, "Is there something you're upset about with your sister-in-law?" The sister-in-law had reportedly complained to her mother-in-law, saying, "She gave 500,000 won for the older child's first birthday, but sent only 300,000 won for the second."
A explained, "Three years ago, when my first nephew had his first-birthday party, we were a dual-income household with only one child. Now we have two children and only one income, so our financial circumstances have changed. I still gave what I could to celebrate my nephew, so I was deeply shocked that she remembered the amount from three years ago and told her mother-in-law about it."
A also revealed that her sister-in-law had given only 200,000 won for A's second child's first-birthday party. "I didn't want to keep track of how much I had received, so I simply thanked her at the time," A said. "Last year, at my mother's 70th-birthday celebration, I also ended up paying 100,000 won more than my other siblings at my sister-in-law's request."
But the matter did not end there. A's mother urged her to send another 200,000 won, saying, "You have to be the one to lose out to keep the peace in the family." Before long, A became the subject of gossip among relatives, who labeled her either an aunt who played favorites among her nieces and nephews or a financially struggling sister-in-law.
Worried about a family conflict, A sent her sister-in-law an additional 200,000 won on her way home from work and wrote, "I was too flustered last time to properly take care of it." Her sister-in-law reportedly replied with a heart emoji, saying, "Oh, you really didn't have to."
A said, "I stared blankly at the reply, feeling bitter as I wondered whether the money I had sent was a sincere gift of congratulations or simply the price of silencing the gossip."
People who read the story responded critically, saying, "She gave only 200,000 won herself but shamelessly expected 500,000 won," "When you quietly let things slide, people start treating your kindness as an entitlement," and "She should have disclosed what she had received and addressed the issue openly." Some observers noted that comparisons and conflicts among family members and relatives over cash gifts for family occasions are going beyond a simple matter of etiquette and even leading to broken relationships.

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