Now, YeogiChuseok 2026 in Korea: What Is Open and What Is Closed
The 2026 Chuseok holiday runs four days, 24 to 27 September. When the palaces and national museums open, when department stores and banks shut, and why the subway runs late on only two of the four nights — all checked against official notices.
Chuseok 2026 falls on Friday 25 September, and the holiday runs four days, Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September. Monday 28 September is a normal working day. Chuseok is the autumn harvest festival, sometimes introduced as Korean Thanksgiving; families travel to their hometowns for it.
Restaurants and department stores close, but the palaces and national museums stay open, and Seoul empties out. All of this is checked against official notices, as of 16 September 2026.
First: there is no substitute holiday
Of the three statutory Chuseok days — 24, 25 and 26 September — the 26th is a Saturday, and a Saturday holiday usually generates a substitute day off. Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok are the exception. Article 3, clause 1 of the Presidential Decree on Public Holidays for Government Offices splits it:
- Item 2: Seollal and Chuseok generate a substitute day only when they overlap a Sunday.
- Item 1: a Saturday overlap generates one only for the national days, Buddha’s Birthday, Children’s Day, Labour Day and Christmas Day.
No Chuseok day falls on a Sunday in 2026, so there is no substitute holiday. The 27th is a holiday only because it is a Sunday, and Monday the 28th is an ordinary working day. Seoul’s press release agrees: four days, three shorter than last year.
The palaces are open all four days
The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center closes sites on fixed weekdays. Closed Mondays: Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung, the Joseon Royal Tombs, Sungnyemun. Closed Tuesdays: Gyeongbokgung, Jongmyo, Chilgung.
The holiday runs Thursday to Sunday, so neither a Monday nor a Tuesday falls inside it and all five sites open normally throughout. Afterwards, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung close Monday 28 September, Gyeongbokgung and Jongmyo Tuesday 29 September.
Free admission is confirmed at two sites only
A Korea Heritage Service press release on 18 September confirmed it. From Thursday 24 to Sunday 27 September, Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, Changgyeonggung, Jongmyo and the Joseon Royal Tombs are all free.
One exception: the Huwon garden at Changdeokgung stays paid. The release says so explicitly.
Two of them published their own notices with more detail.
- Jongmyo — free 24 to 27 September. Entry is normally by timed guided tour only, but for these four days it switches to self-guided. 09:00–18:00, last entry 17:00. There is no foreign-language commentary from the 24th to the 26th; Korean commentary runs five times daily (10:00, 11:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00), and normal commentary resumes on the 27th.
- Deoksugung — free 24 to 27 September, with English commentary at 11:50 and 14:50, walk-in, no reservation.
The guard ceremonies need no reservation either. The release states that the Gyeongbokgung changing of the guard (10:00, 14:00), the gate-watch ceremony (11:00, 13:00) and the patrol ceremony (15:00) can all be watched without booking.
One thing that does not run: the Gyeonghoeru and Hyangwonjeong special tours at Gyeongbokgung are suspended for all four days.
For reference, outside the holiday admission is ₩3,000 (about $2.25) at Gyeongbokgung, ₩3,000 at Changdeokgung with the Huwon garden a separate ₩5,000, and around ₩1,000 each at Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung.
Hanbok always gets you in free
Separately from any holiday opening, anyone wearing hanbok — the traditional Korean dress — enters the palaces free, all year round, and the Center’s guidelines state this applies regardless of nationality. Rental shops cluster around Gyeongbokgung, so there is no need to wait on the announcement.
Palace programmes over the holiday
- Gyeongbokgung night viewing — 2 September to 2 October, 19:00–21:30, last entry 20:30. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so it runs all four holiday days. Online sales are capped at 3,000 a day, but foreign visitors can buy same-day at the Gwanghwamun ticket office with a passport: 300 tickets a day, 2 per person.
- Changing of the Royal Guard — 10:00 and 14:00 daily except Tuesday, 20 minutes.
- Royal Guard patrol ceremony — 15:00–16:00 on weekends and holidays, September to November, so all four days qualify. Saturdays inside Gyeongbokgung, otherwise marching from the Gwanghwamun woldae to Insadong; photos with the guards allowed.
- Changgyeonggung Yayeon — 24 September to 4 October, Mondays excluded. The experience ticket is ₩50,000, but ordinary visitors can watch free, 70 per session, first come first served.
The museums close on Chuseok day only
- National Museum of Korea — closed Friday 25 September only; open and free on the 24th, 26th and 27th, and open until 21:00 on Saturday the 26th.
- National Folk Museum of Korea — closed the 25th only, otherwise 09:00–18:00, free.
- National Palace Museum of Korea — closed the 25th; it adjoins Gyeongbokgung, so plan around that date.
- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art — only the Seoul branch closes on the 25th. Gwacheon, Deoksugung and Cheongju open all four days, free.
Events you can join without Korean
Chuseok centres on charye, the rite at which food is laid out for ancestors at home, so it looks private. Public institutions run plenty in the open.
- National Folk Museum of Korea, “2026 Chuseok Hanmadang” — 26 and 27 September, 10:00–17:00. All 20 programmes free and walk-in: ssireum wrestling (class 13:00, tournament 15:00), ganggangsullae circle dance taught after a demonstration (11:30, 14:00, 16:30), folk games (10:30, 13:00, 15:30), and special performances at 12:00 on both days plus 14:00 on the 27th.
- Incheon Airport, “Heritage Holiday Connection” — 23 and 24 September, 09:00–15:00, Node Garden east side, Terminal 2, explicitly for Korean and foreign passengers alike: craft-making, folk games, traditional dances and a Joseon officers’ procession. Useful if you land or fly out with time to kill.
- Seoul Museum of History, “Five-Colour Hangawi” — 26 September, 12:00–16:00, with activities aimed at adults and foreign visitors, and all exhibitions free during the holiday.
- Korean Folk Village — 24 to 27 September per the official banner, though its detail page gives different dates. Confirm before travelling out.
What closes
Department stores — it varies by branch
Every Seoul department store closes on 25 September, and each takes a second day too — not the same one.
| Department store | Closed |
|---|---|
| Lotte (main, Jamsil, Gangnam, Yeongdeungpo etc.) | 24 Sep, 25 Sep |
| Shinsegae main store (Myeongdong) | 25 Sep, 26 Sep |
| Shinsegae Gangnam, Times Square | 24 Sep, 25 Sep |
| Hyundai The Hyundai Seoul, Trade Center, Mokdong | 24 Sep, 25 Sep |
| Hyundai Apgujeong main store, Sinchon | 25 Sep, 26 Sep |
Myeongdong needs care: Lotte main closes on the 24th and 25th, Shinsegae main on the 25th and 26th. The only day both open is Sunday the 27th.
Banks and money changing
Bank branches are effectively shut from 24 to 27 September. The joint Financial Services Commission and Korea Federation of Banks notice advises moving transactions earlier, since counter exchange and remittance will also be hard.
Airport exchange counters do open: at Incheon Terminals 1 and 2, Woori, Hana and KB Kookmin run 06:00–22:00, some counters 24 hours; Gimpo has Shinhan 07:00–21:00, with Busan Bank at Gimhae and counters at Jeju too. One warning — the counters in Incheon’s satellite concourse building are not 24 hours: Hana 12:00–19:00, Woori 08:00–16:30. Ordinary branches inside the airport close on holidays too. ATMs and internet banking run normally, with no maintenance scheduled.
What could not be verified
Holiday hours for Olive Young, convenience stores, Gwangjang Market, Namdaemun Market and the duty-free shops could not be confirmed — the official sites either blocked access or posted nothing. In particular, do not assume convenience stores are all 24/7; round-the-clock opening is set branch by branch.
Transport
The late-night extension covers two nights, not four
Seoul extends last services on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September only: final trains on subway lines 1 to 8 (Seoul Metro sections), line 9, the Ui-Sinseol line and the Sillim line reach their terminals at 01:00, with 128 extra runs across the two days, and last city buses serving major stations and terminals shift to 01:00.
There is no extension on the nights of the 24th and 25th — those are normal last trains. Late-night N buses run normally throughout.
AREX likewise extends last-service sections on 26 and 27 September only: the 23:50 from Incheon Airport Terminal 2 runs through to Seoul Station, arriving 00:57, and the 00:00 from Seoul Station runs through to Terminal 2, arriving 01:07.
KTX, buses and tolls
Korail and SRT merged on 1 September 2026 onto one reservation system, adding roughly 15,000 seats a day on weekdays and up to 17,000 at weekends. But the Chuseok ticket release date and whether trains are sold out could not be confirmed — the Korail site would not serve its notices. Check today if you are leaving Seoul. Express and intercity buses from Seoul add 751 extra departures a day from 23 to 27 September.
On tolls: past waivers lead many to expect another, but as of 16 September the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport had not published a 2026 Chuseok special transport plan, and the Korea Expressway Corporation notice board has nothing either. So this post will not say tolls are waived. Check before setting off in a rental car.
Practical notes
- Seoul gets quieter as residents leave for their hometowns — one of the best weeks of the year for palaces and museums.
- Only one date really needs working around: 25 September, when three national museums and every department store close.
- Check restaurants ahead. The smaller and more owner-run, the likelier it closes; chains and hotel restaurants generally open.
- Songpyeon is the half-moon rice cake eaten at Chuseok — rice dough stuffed with sesame, beans or chestnut, steamed on pine needles. On sale from the week before.
- Carry cash. Bank counters are shut all four days; ATMs work, but exchanging money away from an airport is difficult.
- Seoul runs a 2026 Chuseok information website from 16 September, and will police taxi overcharging of foreign passengers in Myeongdong, Hongdae and Gangnam on 23 and 27 September.
Wrapping up
Being in Korea for Chuseok is no loss: four days of empty palaces, free museums and a quiet city. Three things to remember — most closures land on 25 September alone, the late-night extension covers only the 26th and 27th, and bank counters are shut all four days.
When this post first went up on 17 September, free admission at Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung was still unannounced. The Korea Heritage Service press release of 18 September confirmed it, and this post has been updated.
