A video showing a group of male students throwing 1,000-won notes at a part-time worker at a cafe in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, has gone viral online. [Captured from X]
A video showing a group of male students throwing 1,000-won notes at a part-time worker at a cafe in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, has gone viral online. [Captured from X]

A video showing teenage boys throwing banknotes at a part-time worker at a cafe in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, has spread online, drawing widespread criticism.

The short clip, titled "Paying with style," was posted Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, and other social media platforms. The Korean word in the original title — "gao," a slang term derived from the Japanese word for face — is used colloquially to mean looking cool or saving face.

The video shows three male students standing at a counter before throwing multiple 1,000-won notes at a part-time worker on the other side. It was reportedly filmed at a cafe in Dasan-dong, Namyangju.

As the bills landed on the counter and the surrounding floor, the worker silently bent down and picked them up one by one, while the students watched and filmed the scene on their phones.

The clip spread quickly across social media, prompting a wave of condemnation.

"Even if they thought it was a joke among themselves, it's more than enough to be rude and unpleasant from the perspective of the person receiving the money," one user said. Another said the behavior showed no respect for another person's labor or dignity, adding that it was "not cool — just bad manners."

Other users piled on, with comments including "How poorly raised do you have to be to act like that," "Please grow up," and "It's sad to see such a misguided attempt at looking cool."

Some called for restraint, noting that it had not been confirmed whether the students and the worker knew each other. Still, debate continued online, with many saying the act of posting such a video was itself inexcusable.


betterj@heraldcorp.com