Seollal - Korean Lunar New Year 2027

Seollal is the Korean Lunar New Year, one of the two most important holidays in the Korean calendar alongside Chuseok. In 2027, Seollal falls on 29 January, with the official public holiday running 29 to 31 January. It marks the first day of the lunar calendar and is observed across the country with family gatherings, ancestral rites and specific food traditions.

What Seollal involves

The core of Seollal is charye, a formal ancestral memorial rite performed at home in the early morning of the first day. Families prepare a table of specific foods - including tteokguk (rice cake soup), jeon (pan-fried dishes), fruit and traditional rice wine - and bow before photographs or tablets representing deceased family members. This is followed by sebae, the act of performing a deep bow (daebae) to elders, who in turn give children small envelopes of cash (sebaedon).

Tteokguk is consumed by every Korean on Seollal morning without exception. The oval rice cakes (tteok) symbolise good fortune, and eating the soup is considered to add a year to one’s age - a convention tied to the old system where age increased on the New Year rather than on birthdays.

What this means for visitors

For foreign visitors, Seollal is a significant logistical consideration. Transport across South Korea becomes intensely congested in the days before and after the holiday as tens of millions of people travel back to hometowns. KTX and express bus tickets for 28 to 30 January and 1 to 2 February sell out weeks in advance. If you are planning to travel between cities during this period, book as early as possible.

Many restaurants, shops and tourist attractions close entirely on 29 January and partially on 28 and 31 January. Gyeongbokgung Palace and other major Seoul palaces typically offer free entry and hold traditional cultural events including sebae ceremony demonstrations, tteokguk tasting and traditional games, making them worthwhile destinations for visitors during the holiday.

Markets and streets in Seoul, Busan and other large cities are noticeably quieter during the three-day holiday, which some visitors find appealing. Folk villages such as the Korean Folk Village in Yongin run special Seollal programmes with tightrope walking, farmer’s band performances and craft demonstrations. See our practical travel guide for tips on navigating Korea during the main holiday periods.