From Wikipedia:

Pepero Day is an observance in South Korea similar to Valentine’s Day or Sweetest Day. It is named after the Korean snack Pepero and held on November 11, since the date “11/11″ resembles five sticks of Pepero. The holiday is observed mostly by young people and couples, who exchange Pepero sticks, other candies, and romantic gifts.

According to one story, Pepero Day was started in 1994 by students at a girls’ middle school in Busan, where they exchanged Pepero sticks as gifts to wish one another to grow “as tall and slender as a Pepero” (Pepero means “thin like a stick”). However, it is more likely it was initiated by Lotte, the company which produces Pepero.

In Japan, a similar Pocky Day was held on November 11 in 1999, which was the 11th year of the Heisei era. The date, 11/11 of the 11th year, resembled 6 sticks of Pocky.

While this post could be interpreted as a jest on my part I actually like this holiday. Pepero  is delicious, like chocolate dipped cookies,  and the idea behind it is as relevant as most others. Tonight the streets of Busan will be filled with young men and women dressed to the nines, many of the women carrying giant hearts made of 50-100 Pepero boxes, some which run as much as $100.

Korea Beat has some coverage here.