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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for South Korea

The list of South Korea bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

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17 Jul 2008 (Chosun) Today, South Korea marks the 60th anniversary of its post-war constitution, and for the first time this national holiday is not a public holiday (ie. it is a regular working day. • 22 Apr 2008 (Chosun) There are reports that many large corporations in South Korea have either given May 2nd, 2008, as a day off, or encouraged their workers to take a day of leave on that day, with the result that one can expect most banks, government services and large corporations to be hard to reach from May 1st to May 5th, 2008, inclusively. However, most department and discount stores are expected to remain open on May 2nd, and most small and medium-sized businesses are expected to work normally on both May 1st and 2nd. • 08 Apr 2008 (AFP and WSMV) The General Elections of tomorrow, Wednesday, April 9, 2008, will be a partial public holiday, in the sense that government offices will be closed, and most businesses will either close, or will give 2-3 hours to its employees to go and vote. • 21 Dec 2006 (Yangjisa Corporation) The next presidential election will occur on December 19, 2007. This will be a partial public holiday, in the sense that government offices will be closed, and most businesses will either close, or will give 2-3 hours to its employees to go and vote. • 24 Oct 2006 Korea Observes UN Day. South Korea's independence was largely supported by the UN, which is why Oct. 24 has been observed as UN Day. UN Day became a national holiday in 1950. But it has not been a day off work since 1976, when the government cut the number of official holidays. • 09 Oct 2006 (Korea.net) The 560th Hangeul Day, which falls on Oct. 9, in 2006, was re-designated a national holiday last year, but considering the increased number of holidays following the adoption of the five-day workweek, the government did not make it a legal day off. • 21 Jun 2005 (Yonhap News Agency-Seoul) Yesterday, at a meeting presided over by by Prime Minister Lee Hae-Chan, the Cabinet approved the removal of the two holidays from the list of public holidays in South Korea. Arbor Day, which falls on April 5, will have occured for the last time this year, while Constitution Day, on July 17, will be taken off the list of public holidays, starting in 2008. • 04 Sep 2003 (Korea.net) The government of South Korea announced yesterday that it had decided to exclude April 5, Arbor Day from the list of public holidays, starting with the year 2005. The removal of a second public holiday is also under consideration, with Childrens' Day as a likely candidate for removal. Civil servants will also work five days a week beginning in 2005, the same as workers in private sectors. • 24 Jun 2002 (AsiaPulse News) The South Korean Government is considering making Monday, July 1, 2002, a one-off public holiday in the event that South Korea would qualify for the finals of the 2002 Football World Cup, in tomorrow's semi-final match against Germany. • More News Updates For up-to-the-minute news about public holidays trends and changes, visit our public holidays news and updates pages, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Governing Laws: Official public holidays in South Korea are regulated by 3 laws/decrees: the Labor Day Act which establishes May 1st as a mandatory official public holiday applicable to all employers in Korea, the State Holidays Act which specifies government holidays, and finally the Ministry of Government and Home Affairs (MOGAHA)’s Regulation on Closure Days for Public Offices. • Wokweek: South Korea adopted a five-day workweek system nationwide starting July, 2005. Under the new system, all employees of public organizations as well as non-government workplaces with 300 employees or more will take Saturdays off. • Weekend Public Holidays: Public holidays that fall on a weekend are not moved to the following Monday (or any other weekday), even if 2 different public holidays fall on the same weekend day (as in 2006 for Buddha Day and Children Day, and in 2009 for the second day of the Ch'usok public holiday and Foundation Day). • Other holidays : Others national holidays are designated by the South Korean government when necessary, like general elections, presidential election, or local autonomy elections, but the days for by-elections or re-elections are not designated as national holidays. Even when a national holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the next Monday is not a public holiday. • Hangeul Day: commemorates the invention of Hangeul, the Korean writing system, and was designated a national holiday in 1945, but was downgraded to a commemoration day in 1990, and restored to the status of National Day in 2005. However, due to the passage to a 5-day workweek, the same year, Hangeul Day is now a National Holiday that is not a day off work (ie. despite the change in status, in practice, it remains a commemoration day). • Labor Day (May 1st) is not a national public holiday but all banks and many businesses do close. • Parents' Day (May 8th) Although it is observed, it is not a public holiday. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: Bank of Korea (South Korea central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Observance : Any entry in the Observance column indicates that, in South Korea, the holiday may be regional or non-official or limited to certain religious and/or linguistic groups, or begin at a time other than midnight. Note that religious holidays are included only if they are national public holidays, or if the national labour code has specific holiday allowances for employees of specific religions. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world. Aft=Afternoon, Arm=Armenian, Bah=Bahai, Bnk=Banks and most financial institutions, Bud=Buddhist, Cat=Catholic, Chr=Christian, Cop=Coptic, Eve=Evening, Gov=Government services and civil servants, Hin=Hindu, Jew=Jewish, Lin=Linguistic or ethnic groups, Mor=Morning, Mun=Municipal, Mus=Muslim, Orth=Orthodox, Othr=Miscellaneous partial observances (usually described in the Additional Information section of this page), Prt=Protestant, Reg=Regional, Rel=Other Religion, Sch=Schools and universities, Sik=Sikh.

Religious Holidays : Public holidays in South Korea that are based on certain religious calendars may be subject to local variations due to differing interpretations between different religious authorities, or to seemingly arbitrary changes in the date a holiday is celebrated because it conflicts with another holiday that is based on another calendar, or because the day of the holiday is deemed inauspicious (bad luck). To find out more about these uncertainties, see the footnote below, if any, for each specific religion.

Korean Calendar Holidays : Both traditional Korean calendars used in South Korea (solar and lunar) possess a structure very similar to their Chinese counterparts. However, the Korean calendars use Korea's time zone as a reference point, rather than Beijing's, to determine the date when a Korean lunar calendar or Korean Solar Calendar event occurs. This sometimes causes some holidays based on either of the Korean calendars to occur one day earlier than the corresponding Chinese date (this occurs, on average, in about 4% of the cases).

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for South Korea, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of South Korea, before planning any trip to South Korea. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.