Korean
holidays

What closes during a holiday?

Pick a venue type. Major holidays (Seollal + Chuseok, 3 days each) hit hardest; single-day holidays barely register.

Quick facts

2026 calendar

Every 2026 holiday with its weekday. The two 3-day holidays that disrupt travel are marked.

• Jan 1 New Year's Day 신정 · Thu
• Feb 16-18 Seollal (Lunar New Year) 설날 · Mon-Wed 3-day
• Mar 1 Independence Movement Day 삼일절 · Sun
• May 5 Children's Day 어린이날 · Tue
• May 24 Buddha's Birthday 부처님오신날 · Sun
• Jun 6 Memorial Day 현충일 · Sat
• Aug 15 Liberation Day 광복절 · Sat
• Sep 24-26 Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) 추석 · Thu-Sat 3-day
• Oct 3 National Foundation Day 개천절 · Sat
• Oct 9 Hangeul Day 한글날 · Fri
• Dec 25 Christmas 크리스마스 · Fri

The big two

Seollal and Chuseok are the only holidays that genuinely change a tourist trip. Both are 3-day family holidays.

• Seollal (Lunar New Year)

  A 3-day holiday around late Jan or mid-Feb.
  Koreans return to family hometowns, so Busan empties out and small businesses close.
  Best to avoid for first-time visitors.

  If you are already here: the beaches, cafes and convenience stores stay open, but most family-run kitchens close, so plan meals around chains, hotel restaurants and konbini.

• Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)

  A 3-day harvest holiday around mid-Sep or early-Oct.
  Same closure pattern as Seollal: small shops close and highways clog, but the beaches and big sights stay open.

  Time it carefully: 2026 Chuseok runs Sep 24, 26 with substitute Monday Sep 28, so the long weekend stretches to 5 days.
  Book KTX/buses 2 weeks ahead.

Watch out for

• Substitute holidays exist If Seollal, Chuseok, Children's Day, Independence Movement Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day, Hangeul Day, Buddha's Birthday, or Christmas falls on Sunday (or overlaps weekend), the next Monday becomes a holiday.
  Memorial Day and New Year's Day do NOT substitute.
• What stays open Even during Seollal + Chuseok, Busan's beaches, coastal walks and Gamcheon Culture Village stay open, and Buddhist temples like Beomeosa are at their liveliest.
  There are no royal palaces here, so skip the "free palace day" advice you will see written for Seoul.
• Highway timing Day before and day after Seollal/Chuseok are the worst driving days of the year, 3, 4x normal traffic.
  KTX and intercity buses sell out a week in advance.
  Stay put in Busan if you can.
• Convenience stores save you CU / GS25 / 7-Eleven / Emart24 stay open every public holiday including Seollal + Chuseok.
  Same with chain cafes (Starbucks, Twosome, Mega Coffee).
  When local kitchens are dark, these are your fallback.
• Lunar dates shift Seollal, Chuseok, and Buddha's Birthday are lunar holidays, so their Gregorian dates shift every year.
  The 2026 dates above are best-effort; for travel planning, verify against the official source linked at the bottom.

Sources

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Lantern festival

Updated July 2026. Lunar dates (Seollal, Chuseok, Buddha's Birthday) verified against the 2026 official Korean government calendar; for 2027+ verify directly with korea.kr.