Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year, known in Korea as Seollal (설날), is one of the country’s most important traditional holidays. It falls on the first day of the lunar calendar and marks the beginning of a new year, traditionally associated with renewal, family unity, and hopes for health and prosperity. In 2026, Seollal falls on February 17, with the Korean public holiday period generally extending across the surrounding days. The celebration is observed most prominently in South Korea, although Korean communities worldwide maintain many of its customs.

Seollal developed from longstanding East Asian lunar-calendar traditions and was shaped by Korean Confucian values, especially filial piety, respect for ancestors, and the importance of family hierarchy. Historically, it was a time to honor deceased relatives, welcome the new year with dignity, and wish for good fortune. During Korea’s modernization, some traditional practices declined temporarily, but Seollal experienced a strong revival and remains a major cultural occasion, prompting extensive domestic travel as families return to their ancestral homes.

The central Seollal ceremony is charye, a formal ancestral memorial rite in which families prepare a carefully arranged table of food and pay respects to their ancestors. On the morning of the holiday, younger family members traditionally perform sebae, a deep ceremonial bow to elders, who offer words of blessing and give sebaetdon, usually money presented in decorative envelopes. A common greeting is “Saehae bok mani badeuseyo” (새해 복 많이 받으세요), meaning “May you receive much good fortune in the New Year.” People also wear hanbok, visit relatives, exchange gifts, and play traditional games such as yutnori, a board game using four wooden sticks.

The signature Seollal dish is tteokguk, a soup made with sliced rice cakes, often served with broth, egg, meat, and garnishes. Eating a bowl traditionally symbolizes growing a year older and beginning the year with purity and renewal. Other festive foods may include jeon, japchae, mandu, seasoned vegetables, fruit, and regional specialties. Families clean and decorate their homes, watch holiday broadcasts, travel to ancestral hometowns, and take part in cultural performances or folk activities. Because Seollal is one of Korea’s busiest travel periods, highways, railways, and airports commonly experience substantial congestion before and after the holiday.