Korea in December 2026: Snow Odds, Winter Festa Dates, Christmas and New Year's Eve, Week by Week

Last updated: 8 October 2026. Weather figures are the Korea Meteorological Administration (기상청, KMA) 1991–2020 climate normals, read on data.kma.go.kr on 8 October 2026: averages, not a forecast. Sunrise and sunset times use the published algorithm of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). Dates are marked confirmed (announced for 2026), normal (30-year average) or last year's pattern (December 2025, no 2026 notice yet). Prices come from the linked EpicKor guides, dated there.

Korea in December is colder, darker and drier than most visitors expect, and it is busier than the weather suggests. Seoul's average daily high in December is 4.2°C and its average night falls to −3.4°C, yet the month brings only 22.6 mm of precipitation in a normal year. December in Seoul is mostly cold and clear, with snow as an event rather than a backdrop. The calendar, meanwhile, is full: a seven-week winter festival, a public holiday on Christmas Day, and a New Year's Eve bell that last year kept the subway running until 2 a.m.

This hub puts the official numbers in one place, lays out December 2026 week by week, and links the EpicKor guide that covers each piece in full.

For the first cold night before you reach a Daiso: INLIFE Made-in-Korea hand and body warmers, 30-pack, on AmazonAffiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, EpicKor earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Quick Guide: Korea in December 2026

December weather in Korea: the official normals

These are KMA's climate normals, the 1991–2020 averages Korean forecasters measure each winter against. English guides round them to "around freezing"; the Korean table shows how different the three cities are:

Source: KMA, monthly climate normals 1991–2020 for stations 108 (Seoul), 159 (Busan) and 184 (Jeju), data.kma.go.kr, read 8 October 2026. First-snow normals: KMA, via our first-snow guide.

Seoul is the cold one: its average December night is 5.4°C colder than Busan's and 9°C colder than Jeju City's. Jeju is the wet one: 55.6 mm, more than double Seoul, and at a mean of 8.3°C most of it falls on the coast as rain. Busan has the latest normal first snow of any major city, 23 December.

Averages hide the cold snaps. Seoul's all-time December record low is −23.1°C (KMA record, cited in our long padded coat guide), and last New Year's morning the hills of Seoul stood at about −10°C at sunrise. Those are the days that decide whether you needed a real coat.

The 2026 outlook. KMA's three-month outlook of 23 September 2026 gives December a 50% chance of above-normal temperatures (a strong El Niño), but warns that cold air will break through and temperatures will drop sharply on occasion. It is a forecast, updated monthly; see our first-snow guide.

Sunrise and sunset in December 2026

Computed with the algorithm published on KASI's sunrise-sunset page (astro.kasi.re.kr), sea level, Korea Standard Time, rounded down to the minute. Seoul uses KASI's default coordinates; Busan and Jeju use the city halls. Allow a minute either way.

Seoul's earliest sunset, about 17:13, falls between 4 and 10 December, not on the solstice, and the latest sunrises come at the end of the month. With under 9 hours 50 minutes of daylight, do palaces between 10:00 and 16:00 and save the lanterns for after 17:30.

You might like: When Does It Snow in Korea? The Official First-Snow Dates by City, the full first-snow table for every major city.

Will it snow in Seoul in December?

Probably, briefly. Seoul's normal first snow is 20 November, and KMA's normal counts 6.4 days with snowfall in a Seoul December, but a "snow day" includes flakes or sleet that never settle. What recent winters actually did, from KMA's reports:

• December 2025: first snow on 4 December, 14 days late, with 5.1 cm on the ground that evening. Measurable snow lay on 4, 13 and 14 December.
• November 2024: the opposite. Seoul's first snow on 27 November 2024 left 16.5 cm at the Jongno station, the city's heaviest November snow since records began in 1907.
• In the six winters to 2025–26, Seoul's first snow ranged from 10 November to 10 December (2020), and four of the six came after the normal date.

So: some snow is likely, snow that settles is not guaranteed, and a white Christmas is a bonus. For certain snow, go up: the Gangwon ski resorts were all open by 6 December last season, and Hallasan's first snow came on 18 November. Busan is the wrong city for snow: KMA recorded 0.0 cm there all last winter.

December 2026 in Korea, week by week

Sources: Seoul Metropolitan Government calendar (Winter Festa); Regulation on Public Holidays of Government Offices (25 Dec, 1 Jan); Hallasan National Park booking rules; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korail (two-month booking window, from 1 October 2026); Ministry of Justice (K-ETA). Details and dates of each check in the linked guides below.

Seoul Winter Festa: lanterns, the Christmas market and the ₩1,000 rink

Seoul Winter Festa (서울윈터페스타), the city's downtown winter umbrella, is fixed in Seoul's official calendar at 14 December 2026 to 31 January 2027, about twice last year's run. The programmes inside set their own dates, unpublished as of 8 October 2026. What each did in 2025:

• Seoul Lantern Festival (서울빛초롱축제), Cheonggyecheon: 12 December to 18 January, 18:00–22:00 (23:00 from 16 December). Free.
• Gwanghwamun Market (광화문마켓), the Christmas market: 12–31 December, 17:30–21:30 (22:00 from 22 December), to midnight on New Year's Eve. 45 booths, free.
• Seoul Plaza Skating Rink (서울광장 스케이트장): 19 December to 8 February, ₩1,000 an hour, skates included.
• Seoul Light Gwanghwamun and DDP: facade projections after dark.

All free except the rink, all walkable from City Hall, all best after 18:00. Stations and walking order: our Seoul Winter Festa guide.

You might like: Christmas in Korea 2026: Is 25 December a Holiday, What Is Open, and What It Costs

Christmas in Seoul 2026: a Friday holiday, and a couples' night

25 December is a public holiday (기독탄신일); in 2026 it is a Friday, giving a three-day weekend, 25–27 December. Thursday 24 December is a working day. For a visitor:

• Closed on the 25th: bank branches, post offices, government offices and the stock exchange.
• Open on the 25th: palaces (25 December 2026 is not a closing day), museums, department stores, restaurants, cafés and convenience stores.
• The night that sells out is the 24th. Christmas in Korea belongs to couples; the night curfew (1945 to January 1982) was lifted on Christmas Eve, and it has stayed the night to go out.
• Christmas night ends early. The 25th runs the holiday timetable: last central trains at about 23:50, an hour earlier than the 24th (last-train guide).

Last year's prices (2026 lists come in mid-November): Paris Baguette cake ₩39,000, GS25 mini cake ₩4,900, top-hotel buffet ₩215,000–₩225,000. The free show is the Shinsegae façade in Myeongdong, 17:00 to midnight in 2025, joined in December 2026 by Lotte's new 1,614 m² screen opposite. More in our Christmas in Korea guide.

Hotels around Christmas and New Year's Eve

Two nights cost more than the rest: 24 and 31 December. Korea JoongAng Daily reported in December 2024 that Seoul hotels with rooms left charge at least twice the normal rate on Christmas Eve. New Year's Eve squeezes central Seoul, where the city plans for about 100,000 people at the bell, and the east coast, where about 300,000 packed Gangneung for last year's first sunrise. Book those two nights first.

A detail most guides miss: only hotels on the Ministry of Culture's quarterly list refund the 10% VAT on a foreign guest's room: 118 hotels for October–December 2026 (54 in Seoul), without The Shilla, Lotte Hotel Seoul or Four Seasons. A stay across New Year falls under two lists; the January–March 2027 list is due at the end of December (last year's came on 30 December). See our hotel tax refund guide.

New Year's Eve and 1 January 2027

The bell (제야의 종). At midnight the Bosingak bell in Jongno is struck 33 times. In 2025 the ceremony ran 23:00–00:20, and the Christmas market stayed open to midnight.

Getting home: last New Year's Eve the subway and buses ran until about 02:00 and Jonggak Station was skipped, so use Gwanghwamun, City Hall or Jongno 3-ga. That is last year's pattern; the 2026 arrangements come in late December and will go into our Winter Festa guide.

The first sunrise (Friday 1 January, a holiday) reaches the mainland at Ganjeolgot, Ulsan, at 07:31; Jeongdongjin gets it at 07:39 and Seoul's hills at 07:46–07:47. No train from Seoul reaches Jeongdongjin before sunrise, so sleep on the coast; see our New Year sunrise guide.

You might like: New Year Sunrise in Korea 2027: The 1 January Sunrise Times at Jeongdongjin, Homigot, Ganjeolgot, Haeundae, Seongsan and Seoul

Skiing, hiking and the mountains in December

Ski season is under way by mid-December. Last season Yongpyong and Phoenix Pyeongchang opened on 21 November 2025, High1 on 28 November (Kukinews, 21 November 2025), then Vivaldi Park and Muju on 5 December, Elysian on 6 December and Konjiam last on 10 December (our ski guide). For 2026–27 only Phoenix has given a date: 27 November 2026, weather permitting.

One price to know: Konjiam's Korean page quotes ₩72,000 for a two-hour weekday lift ticket; its English page says ₩42,000. Trust the Korean page; more in our ski resort guide.

Seoraksan. The high trails to Daecheongbong close for wildfire season from 15 November to 15 December; which routes stay open, and the ₩200,000 fine, are in our trail closure guide.

Hallasan (Jeju). Summit checkpoints close at 11:30 until 31 March, places are capped at 1,500 a day, and January bookings open at 09:00 on Tuesday 1 December. Crampons are required; see our Hallasan winter guide.

The paperwork deadline: K-ETA on 31 December

Nationals of 22 countries and regions, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Japan, do not need a K-ETA (전자여행허가) until 31 December 2026. The Ministry of Justice has extended this exemption every year since April 2023; the current one was confirmed on the K-ETA portal on 23 December 2025.

As of 8 October 2026, no extension into 2027 has been announced; Korean embassy notices and Korean-language coverage show nothing beyond 31 December. Last year's extension was announced in mid-December (18 December 2025) and posted on the K-ETA portal on 23 December. Until this year's does:

• Arriving on or before 31 December: if your passport is on the exempt list, you need no K-ETA, only the free e-Arrival Card.
• Arriving on or after 1 January 2027: check k-eta.go.kr in late December. If nothing has been announced, applying for a K-ETA (₩10,000, valid three years) is the safe choice, and it also exempts you from the e-Arrival Card.

The exempt list and how the two documents interact: our e-Arrival Card vs K-ETA guide.

What to pack, and what December costs

Pack for 0°C, not for snow. Indoors is strongly heated, so a thin wool base layer, hat, gloves and a coat you can open beat one heavy jumper. A long padding earns its money from mid-December or for evenings at the lanterns or the bell; our coat guide covers buying one in Seoul.

Staying a month? KEPCO's winter electricity tiers are narrow, so the same 300 kWh costs about 25% more in January than in August, and an electric heater costs ₩258–362 per kWh against about ₩100–106 for gas; see our winter bills guide.

You might like: Getting Around Korea in 2026: Subway ₩1,550, Last Trains Before 1 a.m., KTX Seats Two Months Ahead

Looking ahead: January and Seollal

The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival runs 9–31 January 2027, and Winter Festa continues to 31 January (festival calendar). Seollal 2027 is Sunday 7 February, with the holiday from 6 to 9 February; its train sale is the thing to watch from December (Seollal 2027 guide). What else visitors could not find before landing: our analysis of Korea's exit survey.

Skip this: three honest notes

• Don't book Busan for snow. Last winter it recorded 0.0 cm. Go for the milder days (10.4°C average high).
• Don't buy hand warmers in bulk before you fly. Daiso sells two for ₩1,000; bring a few for the first night only.
• Don't trust exact 2026 festival hours published in October. Seoul has confirmed only the Winter Festa window so far; hours above are 2025's.

FAQ

Q: Is December a good time to visit Korea? A: Yes, if you like cold, clear days and city events. Seoul averages 4.2°C by day and −3.4°C at night with 22.6 mm of precipitation (KMA 1991–2020), and you get Winter Festa, Christmas lights, ski season and the New Year's Eve bell. Hotels cost most on 24 and 31 December.

Q: Will it snow in Seoul in December? A: Usually a little. Seoul's normal first snow is 20 November and a normal December has about 6.4 days with snowfall, but many are brief flurries. In December 2025, snow lay on the ground on 4, 13 and 14 December. A white Christmas is possible but not something to count on.

Q: Is Christmas a holiday in South Korea? A: Yes. 25 December is a public holiday, and in 2026 it is a Friday, so Korea has a three-day weekend from 25 to 27 December. Banks and post offices close; palaces, museums, shops and restaurants open. Christmas Eve is a working day and one of the most booked nights out of the year.

Q: What time does the Seoul subway run on New Year's Eve? A: Last year Seoul extended the subway and buses until about 02:00 and skipped Jonggak Station. The 2026 arrangements come in late December. On normal weekdays the last central trains leave at about 00:40–00:58.

Q: Do I need a K-ETA to visit Korea in December 2026? A: Not if you hold a passport from one of the 22 exempt countries and regions and arrive by 31 December 2026. As of 8 October 2026 no extension into 2027 had been announced, so if you arrive in January, check k-eta.go.kr in late December or apply (₩10,000, valid three years).

Sources

• Korea Meteorological Administration (기상청), climate normals 1991–2020, monthly values for December: Seoul (108) mean 0.2°C, high 4.2°C, low −3.4°C, precipitation 22.6 mm; Busan (159) 5.8 / 10.4 / 2.0°C, 33.8 mm; Jeju (184) 8.3 / 11.0 / 5.6°C, 55.6 mm. data.kma.go.kr (기후통계분석 → 평년값), read 8 October 2026. Seoul snowy days (6.4) and the all-time December record low (−23.1°C): KMA normals, as cited in our guide 504.
• KMA first-snow normals and winter 2024–25 and 2025–26 records, and KMA's three-month outlook of 23 September 2026: see the sources in our guide 486.
• Sunrise and sunset: computed on 8 October 2026 with the algorithm scripts (algorithms.js, delta_t.js) published on the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute's sunrise-sunset page, astro.kasi.re.kr/life/pageView/9, for December 2026.
• Seoul Winter Festa 2026–27 dates and 2025 programme hours: Seoul Metropolitan Government, as cited in our guide 458.
• Public holidays (25 December 2026, 1 January 2027): Regulation on Public Holidays of Government Offices, Art. 2. Christmas prices (2025), closures and the Christmas Eve hotel rate (Korea JoongAng Daily, December 2024): see our guide 500.
• Ski resort openings 2025–26: Kukinews, "'반가워 겨울아' 강원도 스키장 개장", 21 November 2025 (kukinews.com/article/view/kuk202511210125). Phoenix 2026–27 plan and Konjiam prices, read 23 September 2026: see our guide 479.
• K-ETA: Ministry of Justice temporary exemption for 22 countries and regions to 31 December 2026, as posted by Korean embassies (e.g. Embassy in Australia and Consulate General in Toronto notices, December 2025) and the K-ETA portal (23 December 2025). No 2027 extension found in embassy notices or Korean-language coverage searched on 8 October 2026. See our guide 223.
• Hallasan rules: Hallasan National Park, as cited in our guide 483. Seoraksan closures: our guide 478.
• New Year sunrise times and crowd figures: see our guide 505. Hotel VAT refund list (Q4 2026, 118 hotels; Q1 2026 list posted 30 December 2025): Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, see our guide 510.
• Coat prices, hot-pack prices, winter utility rates, transport fares, Seollal 2027 and Hwacheon 2027: see the sources in our guides 504, 487, 511, 501, 498 and 456.