2026 Public Holidays

๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea
Holidays 2026

South Korea observes 16 public holidays. Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok (Harvest Festival) are the most important, offering 3 days off each and causing massive travel across the country.

16
Total Holidays
16
National
Seoul
Capital
๐Ÿ“ Showing holidays for South Korea (Seoul). Dates for Islamic holidays are approximate โ€” actual dates depend on moon sighting. Click any date to view full day information.
JAN
1
New Year's Day (์‹ ์ •)
Sinjeong. The Gregorian New Year. A single public holiday; the lunar new year is the more widely celebrated.
๐ŸŒ National
JAN
29
Seollal โ€” Lunar New Year Eve
Seollal (์„ค๋‚ ). The eve of the Lunar New Year โ€” families travel home for ancestral rites.
๐ŸŒ National
JAN
30
Seollal โ€” Lunar New Year (์„ค๋‚ )
The most important traditional holiday. Families gather, perform ancestral rites (์ฐจ๋ก€), and eat tteokguk (rice cake soup).
๐ŸŒ National
JAN
31
Seollal โ€” Day After Lunar New Year
Final day of the Seollal holiday. Massive reverse travel begins.
๐ŸŒ National
MAR
1
Independence Movement Day (์‚ผ์ผ์ ˆ)
Sam-il Jeol. Commemorates the March 1st Movement of 1919, when Koreans declared independence from Japanese colonial rule.
๐ŸŒ National
MAY
5
Children's Day (์–ด๋ฆฐ์ด๋‚ )
Children's Day. Celebrates the rights and happiness of children with events, gifts, and outings.
๐ŸŒ National
MAY
6
Children's Day substitute holiday
Substitute holiday as Children's Day falls on Tuesday in 2026.
๐ŸŒ National
MAY
15
Buddha's Birthday (๋ถ€์ฒ˜๋‹˜ ์˜ค์‹  ๋‚ )
Celebrates the birth of Gautama Buddha on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month. Lotus lantern festivals are held nationwide.
๐ŸŒ National
JUN
6
Memorial Day (ํ˜„์ถฉ์ผ)
Honors military personnel and civilians who died serving Korea. A solemn national day.
๐ŸŒ National
AUG
15
Liberation Day (๊ด‘๋ณต์ ˆ)
Gwangbokjeol. Celebrates Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule on August 15, 1945.
๐ŸŒ National
SEP
25
Chuseok Eve (์ถ”์„ ์ „๋‚ )
Eve of Chuseok โ€” the start of the 3-day harvest festival holiday.
๐ŸŒ National
SEP
26
Chuseok โ€” Korean Thanksgiving (์ถ”์„)
The most important harvest festival. Families gather, perform ancestral rites, and eat songpyeon (half-moon rice cakes).
๐ŸŒ National
SEP
27
Day After Chuseok
Final day of the Chuseok holiday period.
๐ŸŒ National
OCT
3
National Foundation Day (๊ฐœ์ฒœ์ ˆ)
Gaecheonjeol. Commemorates the founding of the first Korean kingdom of Gojoseon by Dangun in 2333 BCE.
๐ŸŒ National
OCT
9
Hangul Day (ํ•œ๊ธ€๋‚ )
Celebrates the invention and proclamation of the Korean alphabet (ํ•œ๊ธ€) by King Sejong the Great in 1446.
๐ŸŒ National
DEC
25
Christmas Day (์„ฑํƒ„์ ˆ)
Public holiday. South Korea has a large Christian population; Christmas is widely celebrated.
๐ŸŒ National

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