Lunar New Year

Korean Lunar New Year, known as Seollal (설날), is one of South Korea’s most important traditional holidays, alongside Chuseok. In 2026, Seollal falls on February 17, with the official holiday period generally extending across February 16–18. The celebration follows the traditional lunisolar calendar and marks the beginning of a new year, traditionally understood as a time for renewal, family unity, respect for elders, and hopes for health and prosperity.

Seollal developed through Korea’s long history of agricultural, Confucian, and folk traditions. While New Year observances existed in earlier Korean kingdoms, customs such as honoring ancestors, performing formal bows to elders, and gathering with extended family became especially influential during the Joseon period, when Confucian values shaped social and family life. Today, Seollal combines these historical practices with modern travel, televised cultural programming, public events, and family celebrations, making it both a national holiday and a major expression of Korean cultural identity.

A central Seollal custom is charye, a formal ancestral memorial rite in which families prepare a carefully arranged table of food and pay respects to deceased relatives. Afterward, younger family members perform sebae, a deep ceremonial bow to older family members, who offer words of blessing and often give sebaetdon, or New Year’s money, traditionally placed in a colorful silk pouch. A common greeting is “Saehae bok mani badeuseyo” (새해 복 많이 받으세요), meaning “Please receive lots of blessings in the New Year.”

Families commonly eat tteokguk, a soup made with sliced rice cakes, broth, and optional beef, eggs, dumplings, or garnish. Eating tteokguk symbolizes beginning the year anew and traditionally represents gaining another year of age. Other holiday foods may include jeon savory pancakes, galbijjim braised short ribs, japchae glass noodles, mandu dumplings, and assorted traditional sweets. During the holiday, relatives visit one another, wear hanbok on special occasions, share gifts, play traditional games such as yutnori and jegichagi, fly kites, and enjoy folk performances or cultural programs. Many Koreans also travel to ancestral hometowns, making Seollal one of the country’s busiest annual holiday periods.