First Day of Adulthood Begins Today ... Yeongcheon City Holds Traditional Coming-of-Age Ceremony

Yeongcheonhyanggyo National Heritage Utilization Project

Yeongcheon City in North Gyeongsang Province held its first traditional Coming-of-Age Ceremony of the year at Yeongcheon Hyanggyo on the 20th, with 50 high school and university students participating in celebration of Coming-of-Age Day.

Coming-of-Age Day is a legal commemorative day established to celebrate reaching adulthood, held annually on the third Monday of May. Yeongcheon Hyanggyo hosts a traditional Coming-of-Age Ceremony every year as part of its national heritage utilization project, targeting local youth and university students.

The first traditional coming-of-age ceremony of the year held at Yeongcheon Hyanggyo.

The Coming-of-Age Ceremony is the first rite of passage among Korea's traditional four ceremonial occasions. On this day, participants changed into three types of attire associated with adulthood?everyday clothes, formal entrance attire, and ceremonial dress?in succession. The ceremony proceeded with the first, second, and third rites (Sigarye, Jaegarye, Samgarye), each emphasizing the responsibilities of adulthood.

Choi Kimoon, Mayor of Yeongcheon, stated, "I will always support our youth, who will grow into talented individuals for our country, so that they can stand tall and face the world with confidence and integrity."