Children's Day in South Korea (Eorini-nal) - May 5, the 1923 origin and modern observance
Children's Day (Eorini-nal, 어린이날) on May 5 is a South Korean national public holiday marking the 1923 children's festival organised by Bhang Jeong-sil in Seoul. Made a national public holiday in 1975 and observed with family outings and free entry to museums and palaces.
Next observed in KR - 어린이날
Civic memorialPublished October 15, 2026
- Observed in
- Where observed
- When
- May
- Frequency
- Same date every year
- Days off
- 1 day - some jurisdictions give time off
- Public status
- Memorial / civic observance - half-mast on government flags
Children\'s Day (Eorini-nal, 어린이날) on May 5 is a South Korean national public holiday marking the 1923 children\'s festival organised by educator Bhang Jeong-sil in Seoul. Observed with family outings, school events, and free admission to national museums and palaces.
The one-line summary
National public holiday on May 5, observed every year. Marks the 1923 children\'s festival organised by Bhang Jeong-sil and made a national public holiday in 1975. Secular memorial category, standard tier.
Origin
Children\'s Day in Korea traces to a five-day festival for children held at the Donggwan Methodist Church (동감리교회) in Jongno, Seoul, from May 1 to May 5, 1923. The festival was organised by the Korean educator Bhang Jeong-sil (방정식), a Methodist lay leader and child welfare advocate, with support from the Korean Social Affairs Association and other civic groups. The festival featured games, food, and performances for several hundred children from poor families.
The event was reported under several names in 1923 Korean-language press, including the "5-day children\'s festival" and, in some regional newspapers, "Boys Day." The observance was held annually in the 1920s and 1930s and was eventually formalised as Children\'s Day (Eorini-nal, 어린이날) in the early post-liberation period. After the national public holiday was established in 1975, the May 5 date became the official Children\'s Day of South Korea.
The 1975 designation was made by the Park Chung-hee government and was supported by the Korean Federation of Education Associations and the Korean Council for Children\'s Rights. The timing reflected both the longer civic observance and Park\'s domestic agenda around family policy during the yushin period.
When it falls
May 5, every year. Eorini-nal is a fixed Gregorian date and does not move. The day sits at the end of the spring school term and is closely associated with family outings, school-leaving ceremonies for graduating classes, and the beginning of the family-trip season before the early-summer rains.
How it is observed
Children receive gifts from parents, relatives, schools, and civic groups. Common gifts include stationery, books, clothing, electronics, and cash. Schools host ceremonies, performances, and letter-writing events; children sometimes write letters to parents or caregivers as part of a nationwide reflection exercise.
Families make visits to amusement parks, zoos, and outdoor destinations. Lotte World, Everland, and Seoul Children\'s Grand Park host the largest programmes, with reduced or themed ticket packages. National palaces in Seoul (Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung) and most state-run museums grant free admission to children and often to accompanying adults on the day. Public parks and botanical gardens are typically free.
Regional variations
Children\'s Day is observed uniformly across South Korea as a national public holiday. Seoul hosts the largest concentration of public events, including the Seoul Children\'s Grand Park programme and the national palace free-admission day. Busan hosts events at Haeundae Beach and BEXCO; Daegu operates programmes at 83 Tower and the E-World theme park. Provincial metropolitan cities stage smaller civic events and art exhibitions for children.
Legal status
Children\'s Day on May 5 is a national public holiday in South Korea under the Public Holidays Act. The holiday was added to the official calendar in 1975 by presidential decree and is one of 16 statutory public holidays in the Republic of Korea. Government offices, banks, and most businesses close; public transit runs on a holiday schedule. North Korea celebrates a separate Children\'s Day on June 1, consistent with the date used by many UN member states.
History of observance
The 1923 Seoul festival was the first formal Korean Children\'s Day observance. The annual event continued through the late Japanese colonial period but was suppressed during the height of the wartime mobilisation of the 1940s. After liberation in 1945, Children\'s Day was reinstated by civic groups and children\'s welfare organisations. In the early 1950s, the Ministry of Education recognised Children\'s Day as an official observance on the school calendar, although it was not yet a national public holiday.
The 1975 designation as a national public holiday was followed by rapid expansion in retail and tourism activity tied to the day. The 1990s saw the rise of large-scale commercial Children\'s Day promotions at department stores, amusement parks, and electronics retailers. By the 2010s, Children\'s Day had become one of the five highest-volume domestic travel dates of the Korean year, alongside Lunar New Year, Chuseok, and the summer holiday period.
Children\'s Day by the numbers
Contested commercialisation
Children\'s Day has drawn recurring criticism from civic and academic voices for what some describe as the commercial capture of the day. Commentators have argued that the original 1923 festival\'s intent was to centre the welfare and dignity of children from poor families, and that the modern retail and tourism emphasis has shifted the day toward consumer spending by parents. In response, several civic groups host alternative programmes on the day focused on children\'s rights, foster care, and welfare advocacy.
The Korea Child Welfare Association, the National Youth Policy Institute, and UNICEF Korea publish materials around Children\'s Day each year focused on child welfare indicators, and major newspapers run feature coverage of children\'s rights issues on or near the day.
Related Korean holidays
Children\'s Day on May 5 sits at the end of the spring holiday cluster in South Korea. Other spring public holidays include Buddha\'s Birthday on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month (late April or May) and Parents\' Day on May 8, which falls three days after Children\'s Day and is observed with carnations, family meals, and ceremonial bowing to parents. Teachers\' Day on May 15 follows in the same family of May civic observances.
Sources
- Korea Herald, "Children's Day in Korea," 5 May 2020.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Children's Day.
- Ministry of Education (Republic of Korea), Public Holidays Act.
- UNICEF, Convention on the Rights of the Child.