Seoul City Tour

National Korean Holidays
Koreans officially follow the Julian calendar, though some holidays are based on the lunar calendar. On the official holidays, offices and banks are closed but palaces, museums, most restaurants, department stores, and amusement facilities are open. Seollal(New Years Day) and Chuseok(Thanksgiving Day) are the most important traditional holidays for Koreans. Millions of people visit their hometowns to celebrate with their families during these periods. On Seollal, Koreans hold a memorial service for their ancestors and perform sebae(deep bowing), a formal bow of respect to their elders as a New Year’s greeting.

New Year’s Day (January 1): The first day of the New Year is recognized and celebrated.

Seollal (January 1. by the lunar calendar): Korean New Year, known as Seollal (Hangul: 설날, RR: Seollal) or Gujeong (Hangul: 구정, Hanja: 舊正), is the first day of the lunar Korean calendar. It is the most important of the traditional Korean holidays. It consists of a period of celebrations, starting on New Year's Day. The Korean New Year holidays lasts three days, and is considered a more important holiday than the solar New Year's Day. It is worth noting that the term Seollal is also used to refer to the solar new year.
Korean new year is typically a holiday for the whole family. Many Koreans dress up in colorful hanbok, the traditional Korean clothing, and perform ancestral rituals in the morning. Tteok guk (떡국) (soup with rice cakes) is commonly served during this holiday.
Sebae is a traditional practice of paying respect to parents and grandparents on Korean New Year. Children visit their parents and wish them a happy new year by doing a deep traditional bow for them. This is accompanied by the words saehae bok manhi badeseyo (새해 복 많이 받으세요) which literally means receive a lot of new year's luck. Parents reward this by giving their children new year's money (usually in crisp condition) and offering words of wisdom. In the past, parents gave out tteok and fruits instead.

Independence Movement Day (March 1): This day commemorates the Declaration of Independence proclaimed on March 1, 1919, while under Japanese colonization. A reading of the declaration takes place in a special ceremony at Tapgol Park in Seoul, where the document was first read to the public.

Children’s Day (May 5): On this day, parents dress up their little ones and take them to children’s parks, amusement parks, zoos, or to the cinema for a full day of fun and games.

Buddha’s Birthday (May 12): The 8th day of the 4th lunar month. Elaborate, solemn rituals are held at many Buddhist temples across the country and lanterns are hung in the temple courtyards. The Sunday before Buddha’s birthday these lanterns are lit and carried in parades in the evening.

Memorial Day (June 6): Memorial Day is set aside to honor the soldiers and civilians who have given their lives for their country. The largest ceremony is held at the National Cemetery in Seoul.

Liberation Day (August 15): This day commemorates Japanese acceptance of the Allies’ terms of surrender and the resulting liberation of Korea in 1945.

Chuseok (Aug15. by the lunar calendar): Chuseok is one of the year’s most important traditional holidays. Chuseok, originally known as Hangawi (한가위) (from archaic Korean for "great middle"), is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food.
In modern South Korea, on Chuseok there is a mass exodus of Koreans returning to their hometowns to pay respects to the spirits of one's ancestors. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. They often visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb, and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors.
One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편), a crescent-shaped rice cake which is steamed upon pine needles. Other dishes commonly prepared are japchae, bulgogi and fruits.

National Foundation Day (October 3): This day commemorates the founding of the Korean nation in 2333 B.C. by the legendary god-king Dangun. A simple ceremony is held at an altar on top of Mt. Manisan, Ganghwado province. The altar is said to have been erected by Dangun to offer thanks to his father and grandfather in heaven.

Special Designated Days
Labor Day (May 1): Although Labor Day is not a national holiday, banks and business establishments are closed, and many people enjoy a day off.

Parents’ Day (May 8): Sons and daughters show their love and respect for their parents on this day. Parents’ Day is not a national holiday. Banks and shops are open for business.

Constitution Day (July 17): Commemorates the proclamation of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea that was made on July 17, 1948.

Hangeul Day (October 9): Hangeul Day, otherwise referred to as Hangeul Proclamation Day or Korean Alphabet Day, is a commemoration held on October 9 in South Korea to remember the creation of Hangeul, the country’s native alphabet as proclaimed by the publication of Hunmin Jeongeum on this day in 1446.