New Year’s Day

New Year’s Day in South Korea is the January 1 opening of the Gregorian civil year. Korea adopted the Gregorian calendar for state administration in the late nineteenth century, and January 1 now supplies a shared civic boundary between years. It remains distinct from Seollal, whose lunisolar date, family reunion duties and ancestral customs carry much greater traditional weight. Calling both dates ‘New Year’ without that distinction can mislead visitors about their different social scale.

Coastal sunrise sites, mountains and urban viewpoints attract people wishing to see the year’s first sunrise, though access, weather and safety controls vary. Households exchange messages, share winter meals or make a short outing rather than conducting a prescribed national rite. Television countdowns and year-end events belong mainly to the preceding evening. Transport can be busy, but the date does not produce Seollal’s nationwide homecoming movement.

January 1 falls on Thursday in 2026 and requires no substitute holiday. The government-office regulations list the date directly; there is no automatic multi-day national block around it. Government offices and most banks close. Under Labour Standards Act Article 55, workplaces ordinarily employing five or more workers must provide government-office public holidays and substitute holidays as paid holidays; smaller workplaces are not automatically covered by that provision. Essential services and businesses using holiday rosters may operate under separate lawful arrangements.