Korean New Year | Watch the sunrise
Festival dates: December 31, 2023 – January 1, 2024
Making a wish at the first sunrise of the new year is a traditional way to welcome the new year in Korea. These wishes are a very popular way to spend the first day of the New Year as they are believed to be more powerful and bring good luck for the year ahead.
Making a wish at the first sunrise of the new year is a Korean New Year tradition.
Seoul has a special sunrise event for the New Year, but if this is something you’re interested in, you might want to head out of the city and see the sunrise festival.
Achasan Sunrise Festival | Achasan Sunrise Festival
address: 127, Walkerhill-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul | 127 Walkerhill-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul (Gwangjang-dong)
Achasan Sunrise Festival is a great place to visit if you don’t want to travel too far from Seoul. It is easily accessible by public transportation and the observatory can be reached in 15 minutes on foot.
But be careful. This is one of the most popular places to visit in Seoul to see the New Year’s sunrise. Before the pandemic, 40,000 visitors attended.
Wishes made at the first sunrise of the new year are even more powerful. Photo credit: Michael Kim/3-legged-crow@Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
If Acha Mountain is too far, stop by Haneul Park or Maebong Mountain and make a wish for the Korean New Year.
