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Full List of South Korea’s Public Holidays In 2024
Full List of South Korea’s Public Holidays In 2024
Table of Contents

South Korea, often known as the Republic of Korea (ROK), is an East Asian country. South Korea is located on the Korean Peninsula's southern tip and shares a land border with North Korea. Seoul is the country's formal capital, while the major cities are Busan, Incheon, and Daegu. South Korea is also well-known for its worldwide significant pop culture, including K-Pop, K-Dramas, and Korean cinema, as well as its fashion business.

South Korea is renowned as the Land of the Morning Calm, which is fitting given how close the calm countryside is to the bustling towns and cities. You might easily spend a few days experiencing the cities' sophisticated architecture and busy nightlife before heading to the top of a rocky mountain or the heart of a forested national park.

List of South Korea Public Holiday 2024

Public Holiday

Date

Day

New Year's Day

1 Jan

Mon

Seollal (Korean Lunar New Year)

9 Feb - 11 Feb

Fri-Sun

March 1st Movement Day

1 Mar

Fri

Children's Day

5 May

Sun

Buddha's Birthday

15 May

Wed

Memorial Day

6 Jun

Thu

Liberation Day

15 Aug

Thu

Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)

16 Sep - 18 Sep

Mon-Wed

National Foundation Day

3 Oct

Thu

Hangeul Day

9 Oct

Wed

Christmas Day

25 Dec

Wed

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Details of South Korea's public holidays 2024 and how to celebrate

New Year-Jan 1

In South Korea, New Year's Day is a time for joyful celebrations and family gatherings. Fireworks and street events light up major cities like Seoul. People traditionally perform ancestral rites and eat a bowl of Tteokguk (rice cake soup) to commemorate the passing of a year.

Seollal (Korean Lunar New Year): 9 to 11 February

The Korean Lunar New Year, Seollal, is one of the most important traditional celebrations. Families meet to perform ancestral rites, dress in Hanbok (traditional clothes), and eat traditional delicacies such as Tteokguk. It's a time to remember ancestors and catch up with family. The festivities also include folk games, calligraphy, and fortune-telling.

How to celebrate

The family traditionally participates in a highly structured ancestor respect ceremony known as "charye." Charye include female relatives preparing food for ancestors and male relatives serving food to ancestors. Both sexes take part in the final element of the rite, known as "eumbok," by eating the food and thereby earning the blessing of the ancestors for the future year. The meal served for the ancestors varies per locale, but rules such as food placement are generally consistent.

Though the food provided for the charye ritual varies by region, the most typical types are rice, soup, meat, seafood, liquor, fruit, and vegetables. Another popular meal is ddeokguk, or rice cake soup, which, while consumed all year, holds special importance for Seollal. Children are very enthusiastic about eating ddeokguk since it commemorates a person's Lunar Calendar birthday. There have been scattered accounts of young people attempting to grow for more than a year by ingesting many bowls of ddeokguk, but the jury is still out on whether it actually speeds up the aging process! People spend days preparing massive quantities of food during Seollal, similar to Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), which might result in "Myung Cheol Chung Hu Kun" or "Post-Holiday Trauma." This holiday tiredness can also be caused by driving long distances, eating too much delicious food, or dealing with the clean-up after all of the relatives have gone home.

Movement Day - March 1st

This day commemorates the March 1st Movement of 1919, a pivotal point in Korea's fight for independence from Japanese occupation. Memorial services are held across the country, most notably in Seoul at the Seodaemun Prison History Museum, which provides insight into the country's struggle for independence.

May 5th - Children's Day

Children's Day is a method for Korea to honor its citizens' children. It allows parents to take a break from their hectic schedules and spend quality time with their children. Because parents in Korea frequently don't have much time to spend with their children owing to overtime or weekend work, many families go out of their way to do something special on Children's Day.

Children's Day in South Korea is also in May, which usually signifies that the weather will be pleasant for outdoor activities because it is warm but not too hot or humid.

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On Children's Day, parents will frequently take their children somewhere special and give them to food or ice cream. Amusement parks, zoos, and parks are popular destinations for South Korean parents to take their children on May 5th.

Buddha's Birthday - May 15th

Colorful lantern parades and cultural events mark Buddha's birthday. Lanterns adorn temples throughout the country, including Jogyesa Temple in Seoul and Bulguksa in Gyeongju.

The Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul is a particularly lively festival that draws both locals and foreigners.

6 June - Memorial Day

Memorial Day honors the heroic men and women who gave their lives while serving in the military throughout the conflict. While it remembers all troops in general, it is especially observed to memorialize the men and women who died during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The Battle of Bongoh Town and the Battle of Cheongsan-ri, both fought by valiant men and women against the Japanese Imperial Army 100 years ago, are also notable to this day.

Ceremonies held in honor of Korean Memorial Day

Every year on June 6, the ceremony begins at 10 a.m. A siren sounds throughout the country, and the South Korean flag is flown at half-staff. As the siren sounds, South Koreans from all walks of life offer one minute of silence to pray across the country.

The solemn day is celebrated by one minute of silence in honor of all the sacrifices made by their compatriots to serve the republic.

15th of August - Liberation Day

Commemorating the liberation of Korea from Japanese colonial authority in 1945. It is marked with a variety of events, such as flag-hanging ceremonies and cultural performances. The Korean Independence Hall in Cheonan is a notable historical landmark with exhibitions and historical information.

Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) - celebrated from September 16 to September 18

Chuseok, also known as Korean Thanksgiving, is celebrated with wonderful food, wine, and family gatherings. According to the lunar calendar, it usually takes place in September or October.

It's the other time of year in Korea, except Lunar New Year's Day, when family members get together. Typically, this entails visiting the home of the family's head, who is generally one's grandparents. Because the destinations are frequently outside of major cities, this causes massive traffic bottlenecks across the country.

If you intend to visit Korea during this period, make sure to plan ahead of time. Many bus, plane, and train tickets are already sold out.

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What are some popular Korean Thanksgiving dishes?

Food is a significant aspect of Korean culture, particularly during key ceremonies. We've compiled a list of delectable Korean Thanksgiving dishes that are popular throughout Chuseok. These Korean delicacies are likely to be found in any South Korean home during Chuseok, but you may also eat them at a Korean restaurant.

Songpyeon

Songpyeon is a popular Chuseok dish. This traditional Korean rice cake is made with rice powder and stuffed with sesame seeds, red beans, other beans, chestnuts, and other ingredients.

These half-moon rice cakes will then be steamed with pine needles to add a unique flavor. The night before Chuseok, the family creates these rice cakes in the shape of the lunar moon. It is often held that individuals who are successful in crafting beautifully shaped songpyeon will have a lovely child or a successful marriage.

Japchae

Another typical Korean food to cook and enjoy during Chuseok is japchae.

This noodle dish is stir-fried with mushrooms, onion, carrot, spinach, and other vegetables in sesame oil. Beef is occasionally added to the dish, and soy sauce is typically used to season it.

Jeon

Traditional Korean pancakes are yet another sort of Chuseok meal. They are also typically spotted at South Korean dinner tables during Chuseok.

National Foundation Day - October 3rd

This day commemorates Dangun Wanggeom's fabled founding of Korea. Across the country, patriotic rituals and cultural events are held. The Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul frequently hosts special events and reenactments, allowing visitors to learn about Korea's rich history.

Hangeul Day (9 October)

Commemorating King Sejong the Great's invention and declaration of the Korean alphabet, Hangeul. Throughout the country, educational and cultural events centered on the Korean language are organized. The King Sejong Memorial Hall in Seoul is particularly noteworthy.

Workers in Korea will be thrilled to see that October 9th is marked in red on their calendars these days. That indicates the day is a federal holiday. But it wasn't always this way.

Between 1991 and 2012, Hangul Day was no longer a national holiday, and employees were not given the day off. Fortunately, it was reinstated as a national holiday in 2012. Instead of being locked behind a desk, you can enjoy the nice weather that Korea generally has in early October.

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Hangul Day: How to Celebrate

Why not celebrate Hangeul Day by visiting the King Sejong Museum? The museum is simple to locate. It is positioned just beneath King Sejong's great golden monument in Gwanghwamun Square, in front of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul. The way into t Several exhibits inside the museum explain the development of Hangul and other technological developments during King Sejong's reign. King Sejong's reign is typically seen as a golden age in Korean history, when enlightenment and knowledge, rather than war and invasion, were the defining events. It's no surprise that a portrait of King Sejong features on the 10,000 won banknote!

Learning Hangul is another way to commemorate Hangul Day in Korea. As previously stated, learning the Korean alphabet takes only two hours and allows you to read Korean signs, enhance your pronunciation, and learn new phrases. The museum is located behind the statue.

Christmas Day - December 25th

Christmas in South Korea is a mixture of religious observance and commercial excitement. Lights and decorations cover major commercial districts in cities such as Seoul and Busan. Special services are held in churches across the country, with Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul serving as a significant location for Christmas Eve Mass.

Conclusion

As we investigate the South Korea Public Holiday 2024, it becomes evident that each holiday is a celebration of Korean identity, history, and traditions rather just a day off work. These holidays, from the familial warmth of Seollal to the reflective tone of Memorial Day, provide a window into the character of Korea. They offer a fantastic opportunity for both locals and visitors to immerse themselves in South Korea's diverse cultural fabric, making each holiday an event to remember in 2024.

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