"No Chuseok Events or Awards This Year"... Typhoon Blows Away Vietnam's Chuseok

Cancellation of Hanoi University Ceremony, Donation for Typhoon Damage Relief
Three Harvests a Year, Longer Seol Holiday than Chuseok

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

During the Chuseok holiday period, Vietnamese elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as universities, which usually held commemorative events or went on school trips, are canceling these events one after another and are stepping up to support typhoon damage recovery. In Vietnam, where there are no separate holidays on Chuseok or even on the day itself, Chuseok is generally regarded as 'Children's Day,' and schools held various events and ceremonies. However, this year, due to severe typhoon damage, schools are reportedly donating all their event budgets.

Many Chuseok Events Canceled at Vietnamese Schools... Support for Typhoon Damage Recovery

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

According to the local media Voice of Vietnam (VOV) broadcast on the 15th, Hanoi National University decided to cancel the Vietnamese Chuseok 'Tet Trung thu' commemorative event and all related programs. The budget collected for the event will be entirely used for flood relief, and faculty and staff have pledged to donate one day's salary to support recovery efforts in typhoon-affected areas.

In addition to Hanoi University, elementary, middle, and high schools across Vietnam are also canceling Tet Trung thu events one after another and donating the entire event costs to recovery support funds. Since Chuseok is not designated as a public holiday in Vietnam, everyone works as usual, and schools typically held commemorative events, award ceremonies, and school trips. However, this year, due to the damage caused by Typhoon Yagi, hundreds of casualties and missing persons occurred in the northern region, and major cities and villages were flooded, leading many schools to cancel events on a large scale.

In Vietnam, the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yagi, which struck ahead of Chuseok, caused concentrated damage in northern areas such as Yen Bai, Lao Cai, and Thai Nguyen, flooding about 35,000 households and cutting off power supply to 1.5 million households. There were about 300 casualties and missing persons. Floods and landslides following the typhoon also caused about 700 injuries.

Vietnam Works Normally During Chuseok Holiday... Meaning of Chuseok Weakened Due to Three Annual Harvests

[Image source=Vietnam National Administration of Tourism]

Unlike Korea or China, which celebrate Chuseok as one of the biggest holidays of the year along with the Lunar New Year and have long holiday periods, Vietnam only has holidays during the Lunar New Year, and Chuseok is not a holiday at all. This is analyzed to be because the significance of the harvest is not as great in Vietnam as in Northeast Asian countries due to the Southeast Asian climate, which allows for three cropping seasons per year.

According to the local media VN Express, Vietnam's Chuseok, Tet Trung thu, is closer to Children's Day. The term Tet Trung thu, derived from the Chinese characters '중추절 (Mid-Autumn Festival),' is less commonly used than 'Tet Thieu Nhi,' which means Children's Day. It is said that this originated from a proposal by Vietnam's founding father Ho Chi Minh during his lifetime to change Tet Trung thu into a day for war orphans.

Tourists show a high preference for Vietnam, where all shops and tourist sites operate normally without holidays during the Chuseok holiday. According to the '2024 Chuseok Holiday Overseas Travel Intention Survey' conducted by Incheon International Airport Corporation from the 1st to the 7th of last month, targeting 1,270 tourists aged 18 and over who traveled abroad through Incheon Airport in the past five years, the most preferred travel destinations were Japan (31.1%) and Vietnam (18.0%).