If You Use Next Year's Chuseok Holiday Well, 9-Day 'Honey Vacation'... Total 119 Days Off

Four Holiday Periods... 4 Days for Seol, 5 Days for Chuseok, 3 Days for Samiljeol

In 2024, the Year of the Blue Dragon (Gapjin Year, 甲辰年), employees working a five-day workweek are expected to have a total of 119 days off, including Saturdays.

The total number of holidays including Sundays remains the same as this year at 68 days, but for five-day workweek employees, statutory holidays do not fall on Saturdays or Sundays. Therefore, they are expected to have two more days off than this year, totaling 119 days.

2024 is a leap year returning after four years, with 366 days in total. Although the total number of holidays increased by two days, because February has 29 days in a leap year, the number of working days only decreased by one.

There are four extended holiday periods in total, with three in the first half of the year and one in the second half. Except for Seollal and Chuseok, there are two extended holidays lasting three days or more, occurring in March and May. This is because March 1st, Samiljeol (Independence Movement Day), falls on a Friday, and May 6th, the substitute holiday for Children’s Day, falls on a Monday.

There are also three Thursdays that can be combined with a Friday leave to create a four-day break. These are Memorial Day on June 6th, Liberation Day on August 15th, and National Foundation Day on October 3rd, all of which fall on Thursdays.

Additionally, April has a temporary holiday on Wednesday the 10th due to the 22nd National Assembly election day. On the other hand, there are no public holidays in July and November.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The longest golden holiday in 2024 is the Chuseok holiday, which lasts for five days from Saturday, September 14th to Wednesday, September 18th. If employees take leave on the 19th and 20th, they can enjoy a remarkable nine-day holiday until Sunday, September 22nd.

Meanwhile, a bill has been proposed in the National Assembly to designate temporary holidays at least two months in advance when there are “bridge holidays.” On the 29th, Representative Yu Kyung-jun of the People Power Party announced the introduction of a partial amendment to the Public Holidays Act that requires temporary holidays to be designated two months in advance.

Currently, when public holidays fall on a Tuesday or Thursday, creating a one-day gap with the weekend, or when there are bridge holidays during traditional holiday periods, temporary holidays are usually designated one month in advance to stimulate domestic consumption, revitalize the economy, and guarantee citizens’ right to rest.

However, there have been criticisms that when the government designates temporary holidays at the last minute, it becomes difficult to make transportation, tourism, and accommodation reservations for domestic and international travel, and it causes unpredictability in business management. Therefore, the amendment includes a provision that temporary holidays should be designated up to 60 days in advance, except in cases where prediction is impossible.

Representative Yu stated, “In the new year of 2024, Memorial Day, Liberation Day, and National Foundation Day all fall on Thursdays, so they can be designated as temporary holidays. At the very least, temporary holidays should be designated two months in advance to guarantee predictable rest.”