Christmas in Korea: A Couple's Holiday, Not a Family One
Written and reviewed by Jun and Jin, native Korean speakers
Published · How we write & review
After this page, you can wish someone a merry Christmas in Korean and explain why Christmas in Korea is mostly a couple's day.
10-second answer
How do you say christmas in Korean?
크리스마스 (keuriseumaseu) is a public holiday in Korea, but it's culturally closer to a couple's holiday than the family-centered event it is in much of the West — since only around 25-30% of Koreans are Christian, and the country's major family holidays are already Chuseok and Seollal. Couples go on dates, exchange gifts, and cafes are booked out — closer in feel to another Valentine's Day than a religious or family occasion.
Quick check — did that land?
1. How is Christmas typically treated in Korean culture?
Christmas in Korea isn't quite the same as Christmas in the West.
Key Phrases
메리 크리스마스!
meri keuriseumaseu!
Merry Christmas!
A direct English loanword — used exactly like the English phrase.
크리스마스 잘 보내세요.
keuriseumaseu jal bonaeseyo.
Have a good Christmas.
잘 보내다 — literally "to send well," the standard way to wish someone a good [holiday/period of time].
크리스마스에 뭐 해요?
keuriseumaseue mwo haeyo?
What are you doing for Christmas?
See also: Valentine's Day in Korea
Why It Feels Different
Korea's biggest family gatherings already happen around the lunar calendar at Chuseok and Seollal — Christmas doesn't compete with those for that role. Instead, it slotted into Korean culture more like an imported romantic holiday: couples make dinner reservations, exchange presents, and cafes and department stores lean hard into festive decorations for the retail and dating economy around it.
This mirrors the same pattern seen with Valentine's Day and White Day — a Western holiday absorbed into Korean culture and reshaped around its own social logic, rather than adopted unchanged.
Christmas is still a day off in Korea, though — see the full list of Korean public holidays.
What Actually Happens
- It's a public holiday (공휴일) — most people have the day off work and school
- Couples go on dates — restaurants and cafes get fully booked
- Cities put up Christmas lights and decorations, especially in shopping districts
- Christian Koreans attend church services, similar to Western tradition
- There isn't a strong tradition of extended-family gatherings the way there is at Chuseok/Seollal
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1 — Assuming Christmas is Korea's biggest family holiday
That role belongs to Chuseok and Seollal — Christmas is a public holiday but socially closer to a couple's day out.
Mistake #2 — Expecting widespread Christian religious observance
Only a minority of Koreans are Christian, so for most people Christmas is a secular, festive occasion rather than a religious one.
Mini Quiz
2. Is Christmas Day a public holiday in Korea?
3. What does 잘 보내세요 mean in a holiday greeting?
Related Knowledge
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