Exploring Korea's Holidays
- yujinchoiris
- Feb 13, 2023
- 3 min read
All countries have their own unique holidays, and Korea is no exception. Korea has a variety of holidays filled with food, family, and celebration. You may have heard of some traditional Korean holidays such as Seollal (Lunar New Year), but Korea is home to many other holidays that bring people together every year to celebrate. Ranging from a Korean version of Thanksgiving (known as Chuseok) to even a holiday dedicated to children, here is a list of some of Korea's fascinating public holidays.
1. Chuseok
Chuseok, Korea's version of Thanksgiving, is a major holiday celebrated in mid-autumn. This holiday has its roots in Korea's agricultural history. Families traditionally gathered together to give thanks to their ancestors for an abundant harvest, and the women prepared a memorial ceremony by laying a table with freshly harvested food. Today, chuseok is celebrated by exchanging gifts with friends and family to show appreciation. As well, special foods are enjoyed on chuseok, such as songpyeon, which is a certain type of rice cake made with freshly ground rice and filled with seasonal ingredients such as sesame seeds, chestnuts, and red bean.
2. Children's Day
Children's Day is a special public holiday in Korea celebrating the nation's youngest demographic. This holiday falls on May 5, and as a public holiday, everyone enjoys a day off from work to spend time with their children. Children's Day started in Korea during the 1920's when Korean children's writer Bang Jeong Hwan founded the holiday in the hopes of instilling a sense of national pride in Korean children. Today, Children's Day is celebrated in Korea by gifting children with gifts and doing fun activities such as going to the zoo or having a picnic. It is a day entirely dedicated to children, and families spend time together to show appreciation for their young ones.
3. Seollal
Seollal is a traditional Korean holiday that is observed on the same day as the Chinese New Year, and both celebrate the first day of the lunisolar calendar. In Korea, Seollal is celebrated by gathering families together to commemorate the new year. A special Seollal tradition is sebae, where younger people bow deeply on their knees to their elders and wish them a happy new year as a sign of respect. After receiving their bows, the elders reward their juniors with money, called sebaetdon, in little envelopes. In addition, it is also a tradition to eat rice cake soup, or tteokguk, as a way to signify aging another year.
4. Pepero Day
Pepero Day is a special day in Korea that is celebrated on November 11. This holiday is similar to Valentine's Day in South Korea, and people celebrate by giving their loved ones Pepero sticks, which are long biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate. You may be wondering why Pepero Day is celebrated on November 11. This is because 11/11 resembles the long, thin Pepero sticks! This day is one of the biggest marketing events in Korea, and on this day you will see hundreds of Pepero snacks in a variety of flavours being sold everywhere.
5. White Day
White Day is a romantic celebration that occurs a full month after Valentine's Day, on March 14. Traditionally, Valentine's Day in Korea is viewed as a day in which the women gift their significant others with chocolate. In return, the males gift their romantic partners with candy on White Day. This holiday originated in Japan, where it originally started as a day for females to show their love toward their significant others. However, this custom evolved as it spread to others countries such as Korea and Taiwan. Now, White Day is celebrated a little differently in each of the countries that it is observed, including Korea.
Image Credits
From top to bottom:
Comments