In Korea, the official calendar comes from the space agency. This June the Korea AeroSpace Administration published the 2027 almanac that calendar printers work from, and the number that made the news was the usual one: how many red days. Holidays are printed in red here, so that's simply what everyone calls them. For 2027 the answer is 72 public holidays if you count Sundays, and 119 days off for anyone on a Monday-to-Friday week.
It's an odd year, though. Nine holiday dates land on a Saturday or Sunday, so the weekend rules hand back six Mondays and one Tuesday. Both of the newest holidays, Labor Day and Constitution Day, fall on Saturdays and get a Monday in return. Here's every date, the long weekends they make, and the things that actually change for a visitor on a red day, like which palaces close and when the holiday trains sell out.
Every 2027 public holiday at a glance
These are the national public holidays from the 2027 almanac. "Day off in lieu" is the substitute holiday (대체공휴일, daechegonghyuil) you get when a holiday lands on a weekend.
| Holiday | 2027 date | Day off in lieu |
|---|---|---|
| New Year's Day1월 1일 | Fri, Jan 1 | Not needed |
| Seollal (Lunar New Year)설날 | Sat, Feb 6 to Mon, Feb 8 (Seollal itself is Sun, Feb 7) | Tue, Feb 9 |
| Independence Movement Day3·1절 | Mon, Mar 1 | Not needed |
| Labor Day노동절 | Sat, May 1 | Mon, May 3 |
| Children's Day어린이날 | Wed, May 5 | Not needed |
| Buddha's Birthday부처님 오신 날 | Thu, May 13 | Not needed |
| Memorial Day현충일 | Sun, Jun 6 | None (this one never gets a substitute) |
| Constitution Day제헌절 | Sat, Jul 17 | Mon, Jul 19 |
| Liberation Day광복절 | Sun, Aug 15 | Mon, Aug 16 |
| Chuseok추석 | Tue, Sep 14 to Thu, Sep 16 (Chuseok itself is Wed, Sep 15) | Not needed |
| National Foundation Day개천절 | Sun, Oct 3 | Mon, Oct 4 |
| Hangul Day한글날 | Sat, Oct 9 | Mon, Oct 11 |
| Christmas Day기독탄신일 | Sat, Dec 25 | Mon, Dec 27 |
That's 24 holiday dates, seven of them substitute days. Feel free to reuse this table or the chart below; just credit A Korean's Take (CC BY 4.0).
Every 2027 public holiday, substitute day and long weekend. Data: Korea AeroSpace Administration 2027 almanac and the Regulation on Holidays of Government Offices, checked November 5, 2026. Chart: A Korean's Take (CC BY 4.0)
Ten long weekends, and the bridge days that stretch them
The almanac counts ten breaks of three days or more for people who work Monday to Friday. Only one of them, Seollal, runs to four days on its own. The rest are three-day weekends, and seven of the ten exist only because of a substitute day.
| Break | Days | What's inside |
|---|---|---|
| Fri, Jan 1 to Sun, Jan 3 | 3 | New Year's Day |
| Sat, Feb 6 to Tue, Feb 9 | 4 | Seollal plus its substitute Tuesday |
| Sat, Feb 27 to Mon, Mar 1 | 3 | Independence Movement Day |
| Sat, May 1 to Mon, May 3 | 3 | Labor Day plus its substitute Monday |
| Sat, Jul 17 to Mon, Jul 19 | 3 | Constitution Day plus its substitute Monday |
| Sat, Aug 14 to Mon, Aug 16 | 3 | Liberation Day's substitute Monday |
| Tue, Sep 14 to Thu, Sep 16 | 3 | Chuseok, midweek |
| Sat, Oct 2 to Mon, Oct 4 | 3 | National Foundation Day's substitute Monday |
| Sat, Oct 9 to Mon, Oct 11 | 3 | Hangul Day plus its substitute Monday |
| Sat, Dec 25 to Mon, Dec 27 | 3 | Christmas plus its substitute Monday |
Now the fun part, if you can take a few days of leave. Chuseok sits Tuesday to Thursday, so taking Monday, September 13 and Friday, September 17 turns it into nine days, from Saturday the 11th to Sunday the 19th. That's the biggest return on two days of leave all year.
October is the other one. Take Tuesday, October 5 through Friday the 8th and the two back-to-back long weekends join into ten days, October 2 to 11. May works on a smaller scale: one day off on Tuesday, May 4 links Labor Day's long weekend to Children's Day for five straight days, and Friday, May 14 turns Buddha's Birthday into a four-day weekend.
And the year ends neatly. New Year's Day 2028 is a Saturday, and New Year's Day never gets a substitute, so taking December 28 to 31 off gives you nine days from Christmas Day to Sunday, January 2.
The one that gets away is Memorial Day. June 6 is a Sunday in 2027, and Memorial Day is left out of the substitute-holiday rule entirely, so nobody gets a day back. Seollal's first day is quieter about it: Saturday, February 6 doesn't earn anything either.
Two old holidays are back: Labor Day and Constitution Day
If an older calendar is missing May 1 or July 17, this is why. Both days were added to Korea's public holidays in 2026, and 2027 is their second year.
May 1 used to be Workers' Day (근로자의 날). Under the old law it was a paid day off for private-sector employees, but civil servants and teachers, who fall outside the Labor Standards Act, kept working. A law change in November 2025 renamed it Labor Day (노동절), and in April 2026 it became a full public holiday, 63 years after Workers' Day was first created. The first one was Friday, May 1, 2026.
Constitution Day, July 17, marks the day Korea's first constitution was promulgated in 1948. It was made a national day and a public holiday in 1949, then dropped from the public holiday list in 2008 when the five-day work week came in. The National Assembly voted to restore it on January 29, 2026, the change took effect on May 11, and July 17, 2026 was the first Constitution Day off in 18 years. With it back, all five of Korea's national days are public holidays again.
The Cabinet signed off on the matching regulation on April 28, 2026, and it does one more thing that matters in 2027: both days get substitute holidays. That's where May 3 and July 19 come from.
Why 2027 has so many Mondays off
The weekend rules aren't the same for every holiday, and I went through how they work in the October long weekend post. The short version for 2027: the national days, Children's Day, Buddha's Birthday, Labor Day and Christmas get the next working day off if they land on a Saturday or a Sunday. Seollal and Chuseok only count a Sunday (or a clash with another holiday). New Year's Day and Memorial Day get nothing. Run 2027's calendar through that and you get exactly seven substitute days.
Two more things can change the picture. The government can add a one-off temporary holiday (임시공휴일) by Cabinet decision, and it doesn't always give much warning. January 27, 2025, the Monday before Seollal, was approved on January 14, less than two weeks ahead. If one is added for 2027, it goes into the table above.
There are also local holidays, which close local government offices in one area only. The 2027 almanac lists three: April 3 in Jeju (the 4·3 memorial day, a Saturday this time), May 11 in Jeongeup, North Jeolla (Donghak Peasant Revolution day) and May 18 in Gwangju (the May 18 Democratic Uprising). Shops, trains and national offices run as normal.
And if you work in Korea, the red days aren't automatically yours. Since 2022, private employers with five or more regular employees have had to give public holidays and substitute days as paid days off. Workplaces with fewer than five aren't covered by that rule, which is one reason a red day doesn't always mean a small shop or restaurant is closed.
What a red day changes when you're visiting
Government offices close on every red day, substitute days included. For a visitor, though, the bigger surprises are palaces, roads and trains.
Start with the palaces. Their regular closing days are Monday for Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung and the Joseon royal tombs, and Tuesday for Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo Shrine. When a closing day falls on a public or substitute holiday, they open anyway and close on the next non-holiday instead. In 2027 eight Mondays are red days (six of them substitute days), plus two Tuesdays, February 9 and September 14, so expect the closing days to move around a lot. (If you're still deciding which palace to see, my royal palaces guide compares them.)
Seollal and Chuseok bring a bonus. For both holidays in 2026, the Korea Heritage Service opened the four main palaces, Jongmyo and the royal tombs for free. At Chuseok that ran from September 24 to 27, and Jongmyo, which normally runs timed, booked tours on most weekdays, was open to wander without a reservation. Changdeokgung's Secret Garden tour stayed paid. The notices came out only a week to a few weeks before each holiday, so watch for the 2027 versions. And note what happened after Seollal 2026: every palace and royal tomb closed on February 19, the day after the free days ended.
If you're driving, Seollal and Chuseok often mean free expressways. The government has been waiving tolls over these two holidays since 2017. At Chuseok 2026 the waiver ran from midnight September 24 to the end of September 27 on every expressway, private ones included, but not on toll roads run by local governments. You still take a ticket at the entry booth in a regular lane; the exit just charges nothing. (More on Korean roads in the driving guide.)
Trains are the hard part. Korail sells holiday-period tickets in a separate window, and they go fast. For Chuseok 2026, seniors aged 65 and up, registered disabled people, eligible veterans and pregnant women could book first on September 3 and 4. Everyone else got September 7 to 11, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., with each day set aside for different lines, through the Korail+ app or a holiday booking page and only with a Korail membership. That sale opened about three weeks before the holiday. If your trip touches February 6 to 9, 2027, plan your intercity travel around that kind of window, or simply stay put in Seoul while everyone else is on the road.
Quick answers
When is Seollal 2027? Seollal is Sunday, February 7, 2027. The days off run from Saturday, February 6 to Tuesday, February 9, with the Tuesday as the substitute holiday.
When is Chuseok 2027? Chuseok is Wednesday, September 15, 2027. The holiday runs Tuesday, September 14 to Thursday, September 16, with no substitute day.
How many public holidays does Korea have in 2027? The official count is 72, including Sundays. Leave out ordinary Sundays and there are 24 holiday dates, seven of them substitute days. Someone on a Monday-to-Friday week gets 119 days off in total.
Is May 1 a public holiday in Korea now? Yes. Labor Day became a public holiday in 2026. In 2027 it falls on a Saturday, so Monday, May 3 is the day off.
How this page stays current
I'll update this page when the government adds a temporary holiday, and again when the 2027 Seollal and Chuseok notices for palaces, tolls and trains come out. Last verified: November 5, 2026. If a date here and an official notice ever disagree, go with the notice.
Sources
- Korea AeroSpace Administration: 2027 calendar almanac announcement, June 29, 2026 (Korean) and KASI 2027 calendar data (Korean)
- Official Gazette: 2027 almanac notice with local holidays (PDF, Korean)
- Regulation on Holidays of Government Offices, as amended April 30, 2026 (Korean)
- Ministry of Personnel Management: Labor Day and Constitution Day become public holidays (Korean) and Yonhap, April 28, 2026
- Ministry of Personnel Management: January 27, 2025 temporary holiday (Korean)
- Ministry of Employment and Labor: public holidays in private workplaces (Korean)
- Royal Palaces and Tombs Center: opening hours and closing days (Korean) and its Seollal 2026 notice
- Korea Heritage Service: free palace entry for Chuseok 2026 (Korean)
- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport: Chuseok 2026 toll waiver (Korean)
- Korail: Chuseok 2026 holiday ticket sale (Korean)
More from this blog
- Korea Festivals 2027: January to March Events Calendar
- Korea's October Long Weekend 2026: What Locals Actually Do
- Seoul Royal Palaces: Gyeongbokgung vs Changdeokgung vs Deoksugung
- Korea Winter Festivals & Light Shows 2026-27: Dates Tracker
Which red day is your trip built around: Seollal, Chuseok, or one of those Monday long weekends?
Top photo: Korean flags on a street lamp in Bucheon. Photo: Daniel Bernard / Unsplash, cropped.
Comments