Public holiday: Sep 24–26
The official 2026 public-holiday period is Sep 24–26. Sep 27 is Sunday, so many travelers will experience a four-day weekend, but it is not an extra Chuseok public-holiday date.
VISITKOREA public holidaysChuseok Holiday · Sep 24–26, 2026
Korea slows down. Intercity travel speeds up.
Plan the holiday around the real public-holiday dates, the special Korail booking window and only the events that are actually confirmed.
checked against current official sources · Aug 22, 202601
Dates that matter
Chuseok Day is Friday, Sep 25, 2026.
Expect uneven opening hours
Government offices and banks close on public holidays. Many major attractions remain open, while some independent businesses can close for multiple days. Check each venue before traveling across town.
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What Chuseok means
Harvest, family, remembrance — with practices that vary.
Family & remembrance
Traditional customs include charye (ancestral rites), seongmyo (visiting graves) and beolcho (tidying ancestral graves).
Songpyeon
Half-moon-shaped rice cakes are strongly associated with Chuseok and are commonly shared during the holiday.
No single “correct” home ritual
Charye tables and practices differ by household and region, and modern families increasingly simplify or skip parts of the tradition. We removed rigid table-placement rules from the prototype.
Korea.net culture context03
2026 rail booking
The biggest operational change: high-speed rail booking is integrated under Korail+ from Sep 1.
Travel period covered by the special Chuseok booking: Sep 23–27, 2026. Only integrated Korail members can use the holiday reservation system; SR-only members must convert in advance.
SEP 3–4
Priority booking
For eligible transport-vulnerable groups, 09:00–15:00.
SEP 7
All routes · conventional trains
ITX-Saemaeul, ITX-Maum, Mugunghwa and other non-KTX trains · 07:00–13:00.
SEP 8
KTX · Gyeongjeon / Gangneung / Donghae / Jungang / Jungbunaeryuk
07:00–13:00.
SEP 9
KTX · Honam / Jeolla
07:00–13:00.
SEP 10
KTX serving Suseo
Gyeongbu / Gyeongjeon / Donghae / Honam / Jeolla services departing or arriving at Suseo · 07:00–13:00.
SEP 11
Gyeongbu KTX
07:00–13:00. We removed the unverified “3 PM remaining seats” claim from the prototype.
From Sep 1, former SRT Suseo services are sold through Korail+ / Korail as KTX. Existing SR-only members need integrated membership before Chuseok booking.
Korail official notice SR integration notice 04
Confirmed cultural dates
Only items with a current 2026 official listing are marked confirmed.
Seoul Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival
Sep 12–13 at Namsangol Hanok Village and Seoul Namsan Gugakdang, with performances, demonstrations, exhibitions and public participation programs.
Seoul official festival listingNational Folk Museum of Korea
The Seoul museum lists Chuseok Day, Sep 25 as a closing day. Do not plan your museum visit for that date.
NFMK official visitor infoNamsangol’s separate Chuseok program and Korean Folk Village’s 2026 holiday program were not yet confirmed in the official pages we checked, so they are not advertised here as confirmed events.