Why do Koreans give apple when they want to apologize?

There was a news article about Shindong (신동) of Super Junior (슈퍼주니어) giving an apple to IU (아이유) as an apology to her.

Shindong gave an apple to IU (사과) as an apology (Photo:http://micon.miclub.co)

Shindong has been criticized for interrupting IU’s thanksgiving speech for her first win for Inkigayo (인기가요). Shindong was pointing to himself indicating he wanted IU to thank him during the speech. IU’s fans were unhappy about the incident and asked for an apology from him. Shindong apologized IU with an apple. (I thought Shindong will sing “Sorry Sorry” to her instead).

So, what does an apple got to do with apology?

Apple in Korean actually sounds the same as apology in Korean.

APPLE  -> Hangul = 사과; Hanja = 沙果 (Pronounce as: sa-gwa)
APOLOGY -> Hangul = 사과 Hanja = 謝過 (Pronounce as: sa-gwa)

So, the next time if you want to say “Sorry” to your Korean friend, you may want to give him/her an apple.

See also:
Hello in Korean
Merry Christmaas in Korean
IU wore a wedding dress with Seulong
2010 Melon Music Awards