그림의 떡 (Geurimui tteok)

Literally: A rice cake in a painting

Example: “월급으로는 그 아파트는 그림의 떡이다.” — On my salary, that apartment is pie in the sky.

English equivalent: Pie in the sky

Origin: A rice cake in a painting looks delicious but can never be eaten. Listed as a traditional saying (sokdam) in Korean dictionaries, it is the counterpart of the Chinese huà bǐng (画饼, a painted cake), an image found in the Records of the Three Kingdoms. It means something desirable but out of reach.