Korean Public Holidays: A Complete Guide
Written by a Korean-born writer who spent three decades in the airline industry, sharing what growing up in Korea actually looks like.
Last updated: July 2026
Introduction: What a Sold-Out KTX Train Reveals
It's a Saturday morning at Seoul Station. A foreign traveler decides on a whim to take a day trip to Busan and opens the KTX booking app.
Almost every train that morning and afternoon shows no available seats. That seems unusual for an ordinary weekend, so the traveler searches online and discovers that today happens to be Gaecheonjeol, National Foundation Day.
Since it isn't a familiar name like Christmas or Seollal, this traveler had no idea today was a Korean public holiday at all.
In short: Korea has 17 legal public holidays, and what actually closes varies wildly by category — government offices always close, convenience stores never do, and large marts close for an entirely unrelated reason.
Korea has several public holidays that foreign visitors simply don't know about, and each one comes with its own confusing mix of what actually closes and what stays open. This article lays out every legal public holiday in table form, walks through exactly what closes and what stays open by category, and unlocks two of the points foreign readers find most confusing.
Every Korean Public Holiday at a Glance
The table below lists Korea's legal public holidays according to the Regulation on Public Holidays for Government Offices.
| Holiday | Date | Solar/Lunar |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day (Sinjeong) | January 1 | Solar |
| Seollal (Lunar New Year) | 3 days around the 1st day of the 1st lunar month | Lunar |
| Independence Movement Day (Samiljeol) | March 1 | Solar |
| Labor Day (Nodongjeol) | May 1 | Solar |
| Children's Day (Eorininal) | May 5 | Solar |
| Buddha's Birthday | 8th day of the 4th lunar month | Lunar |
| Memorial Day (Hyeonchungil) | June 6 | Solar |
| Constitution Day (Jeheonjeol) | July 17 | Solar |
| Liberation Day (Gwangbokjeol) | August 15 | Solar |
| Chuseok (Harvest Festival) | 3 days around the 15th day of the 8th lunar month | Lunar |
| National Foundation Day (Gaecheonjeol) | October 3 | Solar |
| Hangeul Day (Hangeulnal) | October 9 | Solar |
| Christmas (Seongtanjeol) | December 25 | Solar |
This blog already has dedicated articles covering Seollal, Chuseok, and Korea's commercial holidays like Pepero Day in depth, so this article only touches on their dates before moving on.
In 2026, All Five National Days Finally Became Public Holidays
Korea has two similar but distinct concepts: "national days" (gukgyeongil) and "public holidays" (gonghyuil). There are five national days, Independence Movement Day, Constitution Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day, and Hangeul Day, each marking an event of national significance.
Public holidays, by contrast, are the days when government offices, schools, and banks actually close. Not every public holiday is a national day, and not every national day is a public holiday.
Here's the interesting part. After Constitution Day was dropped from the public holiday list in 2008 due to the five-day work week, it spent 18 years as the only national day that wasn't also a day off. That changed in January 2026, when the National Assembly restored it as an official public holiday.
That same March, Labor Day, previously only a paid day off for private-sector employees, was elevated to a full public holiday covering civil servants and teachers too. Together, these two changes brought Korea's total legal public holidays from 15 up to 17.
What's Open and What's Closed by Category
Not everything in Korea closes just because it's a public holiday. The table below breaks down what you can actually expect while traveling or living here.
| Category | Open on Public Holidays? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Government offices, banks, post offices | Closed | Closed without exception. |
| Subway and buses | Running normally | Intervals may be longer on the actual days of Seollal and Chuseok. |
| Convenience stores | Open | Most keep normal 24-hour hours. |
| Franchise cafes and fast food chains | Mostly open | Some locations may run shortened hours. |
| Independently owned restaurants | Varies | Up to the owner, and many do close — check ahead. |
| Private clinics and doctors' offices | Mostly closed | Emergency rooms at large hospitals stay open 24 hours. |
| Pharmacies | Mostly closed | The Hyuiljikimi Yakguk ("Holiday Guardian Pharmacy") system shows which pharmacies are on duty. |
| Large supermarkets (hypermarkets) | A separate issue entirely | They close for a mandatory rest day, usually the 2nd and 4th Sunday monthly, set by local ordinance and worth checking. |
| Tourist attractions and amusement parks | Open, often more crowded | It's also a day off for Koreans, so these spots get busier. |
| Delivery services | Available | Delivery times may run longer than usual. |
| Household waste collection | May change locally | Check your local district office's website. |
| National and public museums/galleries | Varies by site | Many close entirely on Seollal and Chuseok itself. |
Mystery One: Why Are Two Religiously Distinct Holidays Both Public Holidays?
Christmas and Buddha's Birthday Became Holidays at Very Different Times
Christmas has been a public holiday in Korea since 1945, dating back to the U.S. military government period, and stayed in place after the government was established in 1948. Buddha's Birthday, by contrast, wasn't designated a public holiday until 1975.
At the time, the Buddhist community saw the fact that only Christmas was recognized as unequal treatment, and pursued the issue through roughly a decade of legal challenges. The government added Buddha's Birthday as a public holiday in 1975 as a result.
A Political Balance Rather Than a Religious Courtesy
At the time this decision was made, Christians and Buddhists together made up roughly 85 percent of the population, and the two religious populations were of comparable size. The reason these two holidays sit side by side seems less like religious courtesy and more like a reflection of political balance.
Today, that history is easy to forget while standing in the crowd at Seoul's Lotus Lantern Festival the weekend before Buddha's Birthday, watching tens of thousands of paper lanterns drift down the street held by people who aren't necessarily Buddhist at all. Much like Christmas in Korea, Buddha's Birthday has become less a strictly religious observance and more a shared cultural occasion most Koreans simply treat as a welcome day off in late spring.
Mystery Two: Why Is the Substitute Holiday System So Confusing?
The Basic Concept Behind Substitute Holidays
A substitute holiday (daeche gonghyuil) is a system in which, if a public holiday falls on a Saturday, a Sunday, or overlaps with another holiday, the following weekday is designated as a holiday instead.
For example, if a holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday becomes a substitute holiday, giving people an extra day off.
A System That Wasn't Always Applied to Every Holiday
This system wasn't applied to every holiday from the start. When it was introduced in 2013, it applied only to Seollal, Chuseok, and Children's Day.
In August 2021, the government expanded it to nearly every holiday except New Year's Day, Buddha's Birthday, Memorial Day, and Christmas. In 2023, Buddha's Birthday and Christmas were added.
In 2026, Labor Day and Constitution Day, both newly added to the public holiday list that same year, were also brought under the system. New Year's Day and Memorial Day are now the only two public holidays without a substitute holiday provision.
Why the Expansion Happened So Gradually
My own reading of this is that the gradual expansion is rooted in pushback from the business community. As the number of holidays grew, concerns about the labor cost burden on smaller businesses ran high.
The government appears to have widened the system's scope step by step, balancing the public's right to rest against businesses' economic concerns. Picture a small restaurant owner checking the calendar every time a new substitute holiday gets announced, mentally recalculating staff schedules and whether it's worth opening at all that day — this is exactly the kind of friction the slow rollout was trying to manage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are restaurants open on Korean public holidays? Franchise restaurants and cafes generally stay open as usual. Independently owned restaurants often close at the owner's discretion, so it's safer to check ahead.
Are banks open? No. Like government offices, banks close without exception on legal public holidays. Online banking and ATMs remain fully accessible.
Do buses and subways run normally? On most public holidays, yes, exactly as usual. On the actual days of Seollal and Chuseok, intervals may run somewhat longer.
Are museums open? It depends on the site. Many national and public museums close entirely on Seollal and Chuseok, so check the specific venue's website first.
Can I go shopping? Convenience stores, franchise stores, and online shopping all work fine. Large hypermarkets close for a separate mandatory rest day, not the public holiday itself, so check the specific store's schedule.
What if all the trains or flights are already sold out? This happens most around Seollal, Chuseok, and long substitute-holiday weekends. Intercity buses are a reliable backup, and KTX standing tickets (ipseokpyo) occasionally appear even when seated tickets are gone.
Are hospitals available in an emergency during a holiday? Yes. While small private clinics close, emergency rooms at large general hospitals operate 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
Do prices go up around major holidays? Somewhat. Flights, KTX tickets, and hotel rates around Seollal and Chuseok often rise noticeably in the weeks before the holiday, on top of simply selling out faster than usual.
Practical Advice for Foreign Readers
Private Companies Handle Public Holidays Differently
Since January 2020, private companies with 300 or more employees have been legally required to treat public holidays as paid days off. Smaller companies still have discretion, depending on internal policy.
When scheduling something with a Korean colleague, keep in mind that a public holiday doesn't automatically mean every company is closed.
Long Weekends Created by Substitute Holidays Are Peak Travel Season
Whenever a substitute holiday creates a three-day weekend or longer, domestic travel demand spikes sharply. If a long weekend like this is coming up, book domestic transportation or flights at least a few weeks in advance.
If you need medicine unexpectedly on a public holiday, the Hyuiljikimi Yakguk website or the Health and Welfare Call Center (129) can tell you which pharmacies are on duty that day.
That said, don't forget that convenience stores carry a small selection of over-the-counter basics, like digestive aids, cold medicine, and Tylenol, so a nearby CU or GS25 can often solve the problem faster than tracking down an open pharmacy.
The Easiest Way to Track Which Days Are Red
Set up Naver or Google Calendar to automatically display Korean public holidays. Since Seollal, Chuseok, and Buddha's Birthday shift every year on the solar calendar, checking an app in advance makes planning much easier.
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