Yo Kass answered
Christmas time in Korea may seem familiar to many westerners, because a number of festive traditions that Koreans observe are also shared by countries across the world. This includes the exchange of gifts and may even include dressing up as Santa Claus!
Koreans observe Christmas as a public holiday and, for roughly a fifth of the population that actively practice Christianity, it is also recognized as an important spiritual time of year.
Traditions of a Korean Christmas
With the increasing influence of the West on the Korean way of life, it's not surprising to see just how much a Korean Christmas has in common with the way the winter festival is celebrated in the West.
Traditions that you may recognize include:
- Exchanging gifts and cards
- Public decorations adorning streets, shop windows and other public places
- Tucking into a Christmas dinner
- Caroling
- Christmas movies and cartoons appearing on Korean TV
- Attending church services
Christmas in Korea
At this point, you may be wondering what it is that actually distinguishes a Korean Christmas from those celebrated in other countries...
The first point I'd make is that Christmas is still very much the realm of children and teenagers in Korea- all other major Korean holidays put great emphasis on paying tribute to elders and to recognizing one's heritage and ancestors
Also, the general atmosphere of a Korean Christmas is less 'vibrant'. Koreans don't usually have a big run-up to Christmas, it's less of a 'commercial event', and gifts are usually only given to close friends and relatives.
The first point I'd make is that Christmas is still very much the realm of children and teenagers in Korea- all other major Korean holidays put great emphasis on paying tribute to elders and to recognizing one's heritage and ancestors
Also, the general atmosphere of a Korean Christmas is less 'vibrant'. Koreans don't usually have a big run-up to Christmas, it's less of a 'commercial event', and gifts are usually only given to close friends and relatives.
Whilst on the subject of gift giving, Koreans also tend to only give one carefully-selected gift to each person for Christmas, rather than stacking presents up under the tree and filling stockings with smaller presents. In fact, the general atmosphere around Christmas is more subdued - especially in comparison to Korean New Year which follows shortly afterwards.
