Acting President Choi Sang-mok (center) speaks at a consultative meeting between the government and ruling party on economic stability at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)
Acting President Choi Sang-mok (center) speaks at a consultative meeting between the government and ruling party on economic stability at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)

South Korea will get a six-day holiday for the upcoming Lunar New Year, or Seollal, following the government’s announcement Wednesday to designate Jan. 27 a temporary holiday to encourage consumer spending.

“The government and the ruling party have agreed to designate Jan. 27, 2025, as a temporary holiday to stimulate domestic spending and promote tourism during the Seollal holiday period,” said Rep. Kim Sang-hoon, policy chief of the ruling People Power Party, during a press briefing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul.

This year's Lunar New Year holiday is currently scheduled to run from Tuesday, Jan. 28, through Thursday, Jan. 30. However, if the Cabinet approves the proposal, the holiday could be extended to six consecutive days, beginning Jan. 25.

“The government and the ruling party expect (the designation) to bring a positive impact on the domestic economy and tourism. We also believe the extended time for the people to take a rest could help improve their quality of life,” Kim said.

The announcement to designate an additional holiday comes as the country faces significant headwinds in the new year, following months of tumult on both economic and political fronts. Consumption has weakened amid consecutive crises in December, including the Dec. 3 martial law declaration followed by impeachments of key government figures and a Dec. 29 Jeju Air crash that claimed 179 lives.

According to the Bank of Korea, the consumer sentiment index for December 2024 dropped to 88.4, down 12.3 points from the previous month, the sharpest decline observed since March 2020, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, average daily credit card transactions in December fell by approximately 178.8 billion won ($123 million) from the previous month to 2.47 trillion won.

A separate report by Statistics Korea revealed that during the week of the martial law declaration, credit card transactions dropped by 26.3 percent compared to the previous week, with Seoul experiencing an even sharper decline of 29.3 percent.

Some, however, expressed regret over the announcement, saying it was made too abruptly, making it difficult for them to make new plans.

"I wish the announcement of the additional holiday had come a bit earlier. It would have given me more options to plan my holiday schedule in advance. Expecting a longer Seollal holiday period since last December, I had planned to take Friday off, not Monday, to travel to Japan," said a 31-year-old office worker in Seoul, who asked to be identified only as Lee.