“Didn’t Get Any Pepero Today?”... Elementary Schooler’s Funny-Sad Coinage, “Pepero Relief Fund,” Draws Attention

[Financial News] On the 11th, a newly coined term, “Pepero relief fund,” referring to Pepero given to comfort people who did not receive any for Pepero Day, is gaining attention online.
The term became widely known through the video “An ILLIT Fan Meeting Where You Mustn’t Laugh,” recently released on entertainer Yoo Byung-jae’s YouTube channel. In the video, Yoo asked elementary school boy A, who appeared alongside him, to share a new slang term that was popular these days. A replied, “Pepero relief fund,” sending the room into laughter.
When the girl group ILLIT members asked what the term meant, A wittily explained, “Pepero given to someone who didn’t receive any Pepero on Pepero Day.” The unexpected answer made the ILLIT members burst out laughing, and they also said they could relate, having received similar Pepero themselves.
As this neologism, a parody of “disaster relief funds,” spread, lighthearted reactions also continued among internet users. Comments poured in on online communities and social media (SNS), including: “I never expected disaster relief funds to be parodied like this”; “For people who didn’t get any, it’s somehow a ‘funny-sad’ catchphrase”; “Where do you apply for the relief fund?”; and “I urgently need that relief fund myself right now.”
Meanwhile, November 11 is widely known as Pepero Day, a commercial holiday when people exchange stick-shaped snacks, but it is also Farmers’ Day, a statutory commemorative day established to promote the value of agriculture and rural communities and honor the hard work of farmers.
Since 2006, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and others have designated this day each year as Garaetteok Day to promote the consumption of Korean rice and the spread of traditional food culture. They continue a campaign encouraging people to share garaetteok with those dear to them.

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