New Year’s Day celebration customs, associated with sentiment and fragrance of the Korean nation, can be divided into preparations, gala dresses, greetings, dishes and folk games.
On the day before the New Year’s Day people clean up their houses in and out, prepare gala dresses and dishes for New Year’s Day.
With their gala dresses on, they offer New Year’s greetings first to deceased ancestors and then to seniors of the family by priority of age. They call on close relatives, seniors of the village and teachers to offer New Year greetings. They say “Happy New Year!” to friends wishing the best in the new year.
They offer New Year’s greetings by making Korean bow, the peculiar greeting manners of the Korean nation. This custom is originated from the fact that the Korean nation respect the elders and value etiquette.
What is spectacular on the New Year’s Day is that they prepare holiday dishes and enjoy them with family members, relatives and neighbours. The typical dishes are different types of rice cakes including glutinous rice cake, steamed rice cake, non-filled rice cake and pancake, fruit punch, sweet drink from fermented rice, grilled meat and so on. Rice-cake soup is the best among them.
Folk games add festive mood to the New Year’s Day.
People enjoy the New Year’s Day playing folk games including popular yut (four sticks) game that can be played by the people of all ages and seesawing, kite flying, sleigh riding, top spinning, shuttlecock game, pinwheel turning and the like.
The Korean people’s traditional New Year’s Day celebration customs are now inherited and developed brilliantly as required by the new era thanks to the wise