Korean New Year

Honouring ancestors and elders

Festivities begin on the first morning with charye, a household rite dedicated to family ancestors. A low table is set with carefully arranged dishes, including fruits, meats, and soups. Family members perform deep ceremonial bows before the table to express reverence and ask for health in the coming year. Afterwards, younger relatives carry out sebae, kneeling to bow deeply before grandparents and parents while wishing them abundance. Elders return the gesture by offering dŏkdam, words of wisdom and encouragement, along with gifts of crisp pocket money handed out in silk pouches with classic patterns.

Festival foods and flavours

The central dish of the morning feast is tteokguk, a clear soup made with simmered beef broth and thinly sliced white rice cakes. The elongated cylinders of steamed rice dough represent longevity, while slicing them into disc shapes mirrors antique bronze coins, welcoming wealth. According to tradition, eating a bowl of this soup grants a person another year of life. Alongside the soup, families serve savoury pan-fried pancakes called jeon. Cooks fry these crispy batters with various fillings, such as shredded beef, oysters, scallions, or aged kimchi, serving them with a dipping mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and ground red pepper.

Historical survival and renewal

New Year rituals appear in early Chinese records documenting ancient Korean states like Buyeo and Silla, where communities gathered for communal song, dance, and state rites. By the Goryeo dynasty, the holiday ranked among the nation's premier annual celebrations. However, Japanese colonial authorities outlawed Seollal in the early twentieth century as part of an assimilation policy, mandating Gregorian New Year instead. Even after liberation, the Gregorian date remained the primary state holiday for decades. South Korean citizens continued lobbying for the restoration of the traditional calendar, prompting the government to recognise it as a folk day in 1985 and fully restore it as a national holiday in 1989.

Clothing and outdoor customs

During the holiday, many people put on colourful traditional garments, known as hanbok in South Korea and Choson-ot in North Korea, though contemporary everyday wear is also common. In addition to family gatherings indoors, communities maintain folk rituals outdoors. One notable practice involves assembling a moon house from dry timber and pine boughs. When set alight, the towering bonfire is believed to drive away misfortune and harmful spirits. Participants often fasten written wishes for health, prosperity, and success to the branches before the structure burns down, hoping their hopes will be realised in the months ahead.

How Korean New Year is kept

Observances span three consecutive days: the eve, New Year's Day, and the following day. Millions journey to their ancestral homes, prioritising visits to parents, grandparents, and parents-in-law. On the holiday morning, families dress in traditional or neat modern clothes to perform charye, offering ritual food to ancestors with formal prostrations. Afterwards, descendants perform sebae, a kneeling bow to living elders, who present them with blessings and money envelopes. The family then sits down to eat tteokguk and assorted jeon pancakes, before spending the afternoon playing traditional games or burning a moon house bonfire.

When and where

The date is determined by the Korean lunisolar calendar. It generally coincides with the arrival of the second dark moon after the midwinter solstice, falling during the Gregorian months of January or February. If a leap month precedes the new year, the celebration moves to the third subsequent dark moon.

The holiday is celebrated across both South Korea and North Korea, as well as by Korean communities living throughout the world. Within Korea, the festival centres on ancestral family homes in cities, towns, and rural villages, generating massive annual travel as relatives reunite.

What Korean New Year means

Seollal represents renewal, filial piety, and gratitude to forebears. Serving tteokguk carries deep meaning: the white rice dough signifies purity, while coin-shaped slices express hopes for prosperity. Eating the soup also symbolises advancing one year in age. Ritual bows honour both the departed and living elders, strengthening familial continuity and ushering in good fortune for the twelve-month cycle ahead.

On the table

• Tteokguk
• Jeon
• Yukjeon
• Guljeon
• Kimchijeon
• Pajeon
• Mandu
• Tteok

Flavours: Chilli

Days Korean New Year is marked

Questions people ask about Korean New Year

See also

Double Ninth FestivalAn autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceDaeboreumA Korean festival of the first lunar full moon, marked by fires, wishes and feastsBuddha's BirthdayA festival marking the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, observed across Asia with temple rituals and community gatherings.HaenyeoFemale free-divers of Jeju Island who harvest seafood from the ocean.

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• How South Koreans woke up years youngerAl Jazeera, Article
• Daughters-in-law vs. mothers-in-lawThe Korea Times, Article
• How South Koreans woke up years youngerAl Jazeera, Article
• Daughters-in-law vs. mothers-in-lawThe Korea Times, Article

• Korean New Year on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-04.