Korean Public Holidays

Why the dates move every year

Korea runs on the Gregorian calendar, but sets some of its biggest holidays by the lunar one. Seollal, Chuseok and Buddha's Birthday therefore move each year, while New Year's Day (1 Jan), Independence Movement Day (1 Mar), Labour Day (1 May), Children's Day (5 May), Memorial Day (6 Jun), Constitution Day (17 Jul), Liberation Day (15 Aug), National Foundation Day (3 Oct), Hangeul Day (9 Oct) and Christmas (25 Dec) never move.

Two are new in 2026: Constitution Day was reinstated after 18 years off the list, and Labour Day became a holiday for everyone rather than a paid day off for employees only. Older calendars omit both.

A few more things can add days last year's calendar did not have:

• Nationwide election days are public holidays in Korea.
• Substitute holidays — when an eligible holiday falls on a weekend or collides with another, the next working day is taken off instead. New Year's Day and Memorial Day are excluded.
• The cabinet can designate a one-off temporary public holiday, sometimes only weeks ahead, to stretch an awkward gap.

So switch the year selector rather than assuming last year's pattern repeats.

What really closes

A public holiday in Korea is not a nationwide shutdown. Expect closed: banks, post offices, immigration and district offices, most clinics and dentists, and the pharmacies attached to them. Expect open: convenience stores, department stores and large malls (Seollal and Chuseok are the exception — see below), cinemas, cafés, chain restaurants, and hospital emergency rooms.

Subways and city buses run their weekend timetable — less frequent, with an earlier last train. Museums, palaces and galleries keep their own weekly closing day, unrelated to the holiday calendar, so check each venue separately.

The dates most likely to catch visitors out are the ones that are not holidays: 24 and 31 December are ordinary working days.

Seollal and Chuseok: plan around the shoulder days

Each of these covers three days — the day before, the day itself and the day after — and road traffic peaks on the first and last. Driving between cities can take close to twice as long, and express buses sit in the same jams, so rail is the safer bet if you can get a seat.

The upside is that Seoul empties out. Palaces, museums and main streets are unusually quiet, and the royal palaces have often opened free of charge over these holidays — check that year's announcement. Department stores typically close for one of the three days, while convenience stores and restaurants in tourist areas mostly stay open.

Reading the table

Scan the Day column before the dates. A holiday on a Tuesday or Thursday strands a single working day next to a weekend — Koreans call it a sandwich day, and many companies let staff take it as leave, so trains, flights and popular restaurants fill up as though it were a four-day break. Two holidays falling close together — the early-May and early-October clusters — do the same on a larger scale.

Pick your dates, check the list for that exact year, then book intercity transport and any bank errand around it.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find a pharmacy or a doctor on a public holiday?
For anything urgent, 119 is the number for an ambulance. Short of that, pharmacies work a rota on holidays rather than all closing at once, and convenience stores are licensed to sell a short approved list of basics — simple painkillers, cold and digestive remedies, pain-relief patches — around the clock. If you cannot find anywhere open, the 1330 Korea Travel Hotline answers 24 hours a day in English and can look one up near you.

What do Koreans actually do on Seollal and Chuseok?
Both are family holidays built around going home. Many households hold charye, a memorial table set for ancestors on the morning of the day itself, and at Seollal children bow to their elders — sebae — and are given money for it. The food is the visible part: tteokguk, a rice-cake soup eaten at Seollal and traditionally tied to gaining a year of age, and songpyeon, the half-moon stuffed rice cakes made for Chuseok. The other unmistakable sign that one is coming is the gift sets — fruit, tinned tuna, spam, health drinks — stacked in pyramids in every supermarket for a fortnight beforehand.

Does Korea have a long Golden Week?
Not as a fixed institution. Korean holidays are spread across the year as single days plus the two three-day lunar holidays, and the long breaks appear only when the calendar cooperates — which is why the same stretch of dates can be four days off one year and one day off the next.

Can I change money or use ATMs when the banks are closed?
Yes. Airport exchange counters, licensed money changers in areas such as Myeongdong, and ATMs marked "Global" operate on holidays, and card payment works as normal. Only in-branch services like opening an account or handling large cash transactions have to wait for a working day.