🇰🇷 South Korea public holidays 2026

Who decides these days

South Korea's holidays are listed in a presidential decree, the Regulations on Holidays of Government Offices.

The decree covers the public sector; since 2022 the Act on Public Holidays and Article 55 of the Labor Standards Act extend the same paid days off to private workplaces with five or more employees, while smaller firms are exempt.

Two changes took effect in 2026.

Labor Day (1 May) became a public holiday from 1 May 2026 and Constitution Day (17 July) was restored from 11 May 2026.

Substitute days are where readers go wrong.

Independence Movement Day, Constitution Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day, Hangul Day, Buddha's Birthday, Labor Day, Children's Day and Christmas move to the next working day if they fall on a Saturday or Sunday.

The three-day Seollal and Chuseok breaks are only compensated when they hit a Sunday, not a Saturday.

New Year's Day, Memorial Day and election days are never compensated.

Two holidays landing on the same weekday also earn an extra day: on 3 October 2028 National Foundation Day coincides with Chuseok, so 5 October is expected to be a substitute holiday.

Lunar dates come from the Korea AeroSpace Administration, which publishes the next year's almanac in the Official Gazette each June; the 2028 edition is not out yet, so this table's 2028 lunar dates are estimates from the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute's converter.

Polling days for scheduled elections are also holidays — 3 June 2026 (local) and 12 April 2028 (National Assembly).