A substitute holiday is a weekday off that Korea adds when certain public holidays land on a weekend. For anyone planning travel, deliveries or meetings, these extra days matter, because a Saturday or Sunday holiday can quietly turn into a three-day weekend. The rules themselves are covered on our substitute holiday rules page. This post looks at the practical side: how many extra days there are and when they land. Dates come from the Hyuilmoa holiday data.
How many extra days: 4 in 2026, 7 in 2027
In 2026 there are four substitute days, all Mondays:
- Monday, March 2, for Independence Movement Day (March 1, Sunday)
- Monday, May 25, for Buddha’s Birthday (May 24, Sunday)
- Monday, August 17, for Liberation Day (August 15, Saturday)
- Monday, October 5, for National Foundation Day (October 3, Saturday)
In 2027 there are seven, so more of the year sits inside long weekends:
- Tuesday, February 9, for Seollal (February 7, Sunday)
- Monday, May 3, for Labor Day (May 1, Saturday)
- Monday, July 19, for Constitution Day (July 17, Saturday)
- Monday, August 16, for Liberation Day (August 15, Sunday)
- Monday, October 4, for National Foundation Day (October 3, Sunday)
- Monday, October 11, for Hangeul Day (October 9, Saturday)
- Monday, December 27, for Christmas Day (December 25, Saturday)
Six of the seven 2027 substitute days are Mondays. If your team works Monday to Friday with Korea, expect those Mondays to be closed for government offices.
Weekend holidays that get no substitute
Not every weekend holiday is replaced. Two examples in the data:
- Memorial Day, June 6, falls on a Saturday in 2026 and on a Sunday in 2027. It is never replaced, so there is no extra day off in either year.
- Chuseok 2026 runs from Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, September 26. Seollal and Chuseok are replaced only when one of the three days is a Sunday, so a Saturday does not trigger a substitute. The break still reaches Sunday, September 27, four days in total.
The rule of thumb is that a Saturday or Sunday overlap creates a substitute for most national holidays, but a Seollal or Chuseok overlap needs a Sunday, and New Year’s Day and Memorial Day are excluded.
The rule of thumb as a decision path:
Planning with substitute days
- Deliveries and approvals. If a deadline falls on one of the Mondays above, finish the work the Friday before. The 2027 Monday substitutes create a long weekend in May, July, August, October (twice) and December.
- Back-to-back breaks. October 2027 has two long weekends in a row: October 2 to 4 and October 9 to 11. Both depend on substitute days, so check that nothing is scheduled for those Mondays.
- Trips. A substitute day turns a weekend trip into three days without using leave. In 2027 that applies to the May 1 to 3, July 17 to 19, August 14 to 16 and December 25 to 27 weekends.
What to double check
Substitute holidays apply to government offices. Private employers follow their own work rules, so ask your employer or partner whether the day is a day off for them. The data does not include the 2027 election days or any temporary holiday the government may announce, and either could change these plans. To see every long weekend in one place, open the long weekends page, and to check a specific day, use the holiday checker.