Korean public holidays: the rule, not the dates
We do not print a table of dates, because a table of dates is wrong by next year. What holds is the shape: which holidays run three days, which rule moves them, and what that does to trains and shop shutters.
The two that run three days
Seollal, the lunar new year, and Chuseok, the autumn harvest holiday, are each three days in the official list: the day before, the day itself, and the day after. Both follow the lunar calendar, so their position in the solar year moves. That is why any guide that prints the date is only right for one year.
The fixed ones, and the one that is new
The rest of the list sits on fixed dates — 1 January, Children’s Day on 5 May, Memorial Day on 6 June, Christmas on 25 December, the national days, and Buddha’s Birthday, which is lunar. Labor Day on 1 May was added to the list of public holidays in 2026, which means guidance written before that year does not have it.
There is also a substitute-holiday rule: when a holiday collides with another holiday, the first following non-holiday becomes the substitute. It is a rule for moving a day, not a fixed extra day, so it produces a different calendar every year.
What it does to a trip
- Train seats for the three-day holidays are the first thing to go. If your trip touches Seollal or Chuseok, book the intercity legs before you book anything else.
- Smaller shops and family-run restaurants may close for the three days. Larger stores, convenience stores and major sights generally do not — we will not tell you that everything shuts, because that is not true.
- The roads out of Seoul are the other visible effect, which is one more reason the train is the right call on those dates.
Where this comes from
Every number on this page was read at the source rather than in a summary. Where we could not read it at the source, the page says so instead of guessing.
Questions people actually ask
- How long is Chuseok?
- Three days in the official list — the day before, the day itself and the day after. Seollal works the same way. Both are lunar, so which three days they land on changes every year.
- Does everything close during Korean holidays?
- No. Smaller and family-run places may close for the three days; large stores, convenience stores and major sights generally stay open. The bigger practical problem is transport, not shutters.
- Is 1 May a public holiday in Korea?
- It is now — Labor Day was added to the public holiday list in 2026. Guidance written before that year will not show it, which is worth knowing if you are reading an older calendar.
