Festivals and Holidays
01 Festivals
There are a variety of festivals and seasonal events in Korea.
The Korean calendar uses both solar and lunar dates. Festivals usually follow the lunar calendar.
Seollal (Lunar New Year)
- Meaning: First day of the lunar new year
- Food: Rice cake soup, dumplings
- Characteristics: Wearing new clothes (seolbim), giving a new year's greetings to your elders, visiting ancestral graves, and playing a game of yut
- Seollal and the days immediately before and after Seollal (December 31, January 1, and January 2 on the lunar calendar) are public holidays.
Chuseok (August 15 on the Lunar Calendar)
- Meaning: Harvest festival
- Food: The year's new crops and fruits and Songpyeon
- Characteristics: Ancestor memorial services, visiting ancestral graves, viewing the full moon, and enjoying a Korean circle dance
- Chuseok and the days immediately before and after Chuseok (August 14, August 15, and August 16 on the lunar calendar) are public holidays
02 Holidays
- January 1st :
- First day of the solar new year.
- Samil-jeol (Samil Independence Movement Day, March 1) :
- On this day in 1919, there was a nation-wide independence movement to protest Japanese colonial rule.
- Seokga Tansil-il (Buddha's Birthday, April 8 on the lunar calendar) :
- This is the day on which Koreans celebrate the birth of Buddha.
- Eorini-nal (Children's Day, May 5) :
- This is a day that celebrates the joy of children and promotes child welfare.
- Hyeonchung-il (Memorial Day, June 6) :
- This is a day for honoring national heroes, including those who died during the Korean War.
- Gwangbok-jeol (Independence Day, August 15) :
- On this day in 1945, Korea was liberated from under Japanese colonial rule.
- Gaecheon-jeol (National Foundation Day, October 3) :
- This is the day on which the Korean nation was founded. In Korean, Gaecheon-jeol means "the day on which the sky opened."
- Hangeul Day (October 9) :
- This holiday celebrates the proclamation of Hangeul (the Korean Alphabet) by King Sejong and promotes the research and spread of Hangeul.
- Seongtan-jeol (Christmas, December 25) :
- The birth date of Jesus Christ.
- Sunday
- Temporary holiday :
- Dates designated by the government for elections or other reasons such as public holidays falling on Sundays.
본 저작물은 '한국건강가정진흥원'에서 '2020년' 작성하여 공공누리 제4유형으로 개방한 '한국생활가이드북'을 이용하였으며, 해당 저작물은 '한국건강가정진흥원, www.kihf.or.kr' 에서 무료로 다운받으실 수 있습니다.
