Korean Public Holidays 2026–2027: Dates and Substitute Days

Korean public holidays are harder to look up than they should be. Three of them move every year because they follow the lunar calendar. A substitute-day system adds days back when a holiday lands on a weekend — but it does not apply to every holiday, and the rule is different for Seollal and Chuseok than for everything else. And in May 2026 the list itself changed for the first time in years.

Most English-language Korean holiday calendars are working from an older version of the rules. Some still list days off that will not happen.

What changed in May 2026

On 11 May 2026, two days became public holidays in Korea:

Labour Day, 1 May. This one had a strange history. Since 1963 it was a paid day off for private-sector employees under the Labour Standards Act, but not a public holiday — so banks closed while government offices stayed open, and public servants and teachers worked. It was the day of the year when nothing lined up. Sixty-three years later it is a holiday for everyone.

Constitution Day, 17 July. This is a return rather than a debut. Constitution Day is one of Korea’s five national days, but it was dropped from the holiday list in 2008 when the five-day working week came in. It is back.

That takes Korea to eleven categories of public holiday. If a calendar you are reading does not have 1 May and 17 July on it, it predates the change.

The holidays that do not move

Five of these — Independence Movement Day, Constitution Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day and Hangul Day — are Korea’s national days, and the law treats them as one category. That matters for the substitute rule below.

The holidays that move

Three holidays follow the lunar calendar, so their Gregorian dates shift by several weeks from year to year.

Seollal (설날), lunar 1 January. Lunar New Year, and the bigger of the two major holidays. The public holiday covers three days: the day before, the day itself, and the day after.

Buddha’s Birthday (부처님 오신 날), lunar 8 April. A single day.

Chuseok (추석), lunar 15 August. The harvest holiday, also three days: the day before, the day itself, and the day after.

Seollal and Chuseok are when the country actually stops. Millions of people travel to family, intercity roads and trains fill for days, and small businesses close for the whole run rather than the single day. Every other holiday on this page is an ordinary day off by comparison.

The substitute-day rule, which is where calendars go wrong

If a public holiday falls on a weekend, Korea can add the next working day back as a 대체공휴일 — a substitute holiday. The catch is that the rule is not uniform. There are three tiers.

Tier 1 — substituted for Saturday or Sunday. The five national days, Buddha’s Birthday, Labour Day, Children’s Day and Christmas. Any of these landing on either weekend day produces a substitute day.

Tier 2 — substituted for Sunday only. Seollal and Chuseok. This is the one that trips people up: if a day of the Seollal or Chuseok run falls on a Saturday, no substitute day is created. Only a Sunday overlap generates one.

Tier 3 — never substituted. New Year’s Day on 1 January, and Memorial Day on 6 June. If either lands on a weekend, that day off is simply lost.

Chuseok 2026 is a clean demonstration of tier 2. The holiday runs Thursday 24 to Saturday 26 September. It touches a Saturday, so an English calendar applying the general rule would print a substitute Monday. There is none, because Chuseok only gets a substitute for a Sunday.

Memorial Day 2027 shows tier 3. It falls on Sunday 6 June, and nothing is added. That day off genuinely disappears.

One more wrinkle: when a substitute day would itself land on a Saturday, it moves again to the next non-holiday.

The rest of 2026

All of 2027

2027 is a good year for this: six substitute days, against a Memorial Day that vanishes into a Sunday.

What actually closes

Public holidays in Korea are defined for government offices, and private employers with five or more staff have had to grant them as paid leave since 2022.

In practice: government offices, banks, post offices and public services close. Convenience stores do not — they run around the clock regardless. Public transport runs.

Seollal and Chuseok are the exception to all of that. Independent restaurants, small shops and neighbourhood businesses often close for the entire three-day run plus whatever weekend it touches, and the ones that stay open are concentrated in tourist areas. If you are visiting Korea across either holiday, plan on chains and convenience stores rather than the small place you were told to try, and book intercity travel well ahead.

FAQ

How many public holidays does Korea have?

Eleven categories, covering more calendar days than that because Seollal and Chuseok run three days each, plus any substitute days a given year generates. The count of actual days off changes every year with the weekday pattern.

Why do Korean holiday dates change every year?

Three of them — Seollal, Buddha’s Birthday and Chuseok — are set by the lunar calendar, so their Gregorian dates move by weeks. The other holidays are fixed dates, but the days off around them still shift because substitute days depend on which weekday the holiday lands on.

Does Korea give a day off when a holiday falls on a Saturday?

For most holidays, yes. Not for Seollal or Chuseok, which are only substituted when they overlap a Sunday, and never for New Year’s Day or Memorial Day.

Is 1 May a public holiday in Korea?

It is now. Labour Day became a public holiday on 11 May 2026. Before that it was a paid day off for private-sector workers only, which is why banks closed on 1 May while government offices stayed open.

Are banks open on Korean public holidays?

No. Banks follow the public holiday calendar, including substitute days. Convenience stores, which handle a lot of everyday transactions in Korea, stay open throughout — the T-money card guide covers what you can do at one.

What happens to Korea over Seollal and Chuseok?

Domestic travel peaks as people go to their family homes, and a large share of small independent businesses close for the whole holiday. Book trains and intercity buses in advance, and expect neighbourhood restaurants to be shut even when the big chains are not.

More practical guides to travelling and living in Korea in the rest of the Korea guides.

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