December is here and everyone is counting down the days to Christmas across the world, including in South Korea! Christmas is also a national holiday in South Korea and everyone takes the day off to spend with family and friends. While it’s a religious holiday for South Korean Christians and for others it’s a commercial holiday for shopping and huge discounts, it is not the biggest holiday of the year in the country. In this blog, we share typical Christmas food, music, traditions and customs in South Korea:

Food

Forget turkey and mince pies, in South Korea it’s customary to tuck into some classic Korean BBQ food, like jjolmyeon (쫄면) and bulgogi, along with tteok guk and tons of kimchi (of course). Most famous of all is the Korean Christmas cake, known as 크리스마스 케이크, which is nothing alike what we have here in the UK and the designs are very cute! It’s also very common for Koreans to eat out on Christmas and tables are booked well in advance to ensure everyone can have some much sought-after classics.

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is more of a commercial figure to boost marketing campaigns around the holiday season. However, Grandpa Santa, otherwise known as Santa Kullusu or Santa Haraboji, is popular with Korean children as he hands out gifts and embodies the season’s joy. Grandpa Santa can be found wearing blue or green robes, or wearing traditional robes and a historic flat-topped hat known as a gat, which was worn during the Joseon Dynasty. 

Gifts

Exchanging presents over Christmas is slowly gaining popularity in South Korea through the Western influence, but giving loved ones an envelope of money remains the most popular choice. Watch the vlog below about Christmas present exchanging in South Korea:

Decorations

Throughout the country there are spectacular Christmas lights and decorations on display wherever you look. Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, and Gangnam in Seoul are particularly eye-catching and famous for their displays. Watch the walking tour below to transport yourself to Seoul at Christmas time:

Christmas Songs

Over recent years, some of the biggest names in K-Pop have done covers of Christmas classics with a special twist. Get into the festive spirit by listening to the Christmas K-Pop playlist on Spotify:

Does your partner, family or friend want to learn Korean? As a Christmas present, why not sign them up for a Korean course with IH London! Find out more about our next face-to-face and online Korean courses starting in January 2023 on our website.