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Distance no longer an excuse to skip holiday gift

NEW YORK -- Between Lim Jung-sun and her parents in Korea, a phone call from the bottom of the heart used to be enough for any holiday, whether it be Christmas or Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving.

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But now, it takes a little more than that to show her love.

With an ever-expanding selection of online shopping options, moms, dads, friends and relatives know distance is no longer an excuse to skip holiday gift-giving.

"You can order fresh mackerel from Jeju in the morning and it'll arrive in Seoul by the end of the day, my goodness!" says Lim, who's been living in Manhattan for four years as a doctoral student. "I mean, that's good. I guess".

But honestly, she says, the super-easy online access to everything _ and people's awareness of that _ often becomes a little burdensome.

"What happened to the good old-fashioned, 'You're far away, we know your heart'. I miss those days", said Lim, who claims she shelled out more than 300,000 won for Chuseok gifts this year, the most she spent on a single holiday since moving to the U.S.
The same goes for newly-weds Kim Dae-woong and his wife Stacy, who spent a combined 500,000 won for both of their parents in Busan.

After hours of combing through sites like Gmarket and NH Shopping, they went for an assortment of premium fruits and a case of "hanwoo", the affable name for Korean beef.

"It's our first time, but a few more occasions like this is going to start costing us a lot", said the couple, both graduate students on a budget.

Until recently, a wide array of shopping opportunities on Korean sites was irrelevant to residents abroad as many turned down overseas credit cards. Now, only a handful discriminates.

And some U.S.-based retailers made it even easier for shoppers to send gifts with special holiday services.

H Mart, America's largest Asian supermarket chain, launched a Chuseok gift delivery service where users shop in one of their stores, online or by phone, and have items delivered to Korea.

Hanyang Mart and other big retailers are doing the same to capitalize on one of the biggest Korean holidays of the year.

While the convenience serves as a burden for some, many welcome the changes.

"It's already hard being away from my family for Chuseok, so sending a small gift is at least something I can do to celebrate", says Kim Moon-hwe.

By Jane Han

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