Is Christmas in Korea More Christmasy? And How Do Koreans Celebrate the Season?
Korea is probably not the first country that comes to mind when you think about a Christian country.
But for a nation where Christianity is a relative newcomer, it has one of the largest Christian populations in the world. Roughly a third of South Korea’s population is now Christian, so a growing number of people observe Christmas.
North Korea is a different ball of wax entirely — and this gaping chasm in religion between North and South is actually one of the underlying themes in my upcoming novel, “Half Life.”
Precisely because Christianity is quite young in Korea, Christmas is still very much a religious holiday there.
For many Korean Christians, there is no “Miracle on 34th Street,” no “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” no Black Friday door-buster sales. For many Christians in Korea, the Christ birth story and stories about Jesus of Nazareth make up the bulk of storytelling and rituals around Christmas — including narrative spin-offs such as “Ben-Hur,” a perennial favorite on Korean TV at this time of year. (Have you watched that movie lately? It’s is one big buildup to the title character’s encounter with Jesus.)
So, yes, Christmas is still very much a religious holiday there. It’s in this sense that Christmas is more Christmasy in South Korea than in the West, where the traditions of Christmas are woven into your life, even if you’re not a practicing Christian.
The big traditional holiday in Korea — as is the case in many other Far East countries — is New Year’s Day.
This is the day many people dress up in traditional garb and visit their relatives. In the last decade or so, there’s been a shift away from celebrating the solar calendar New Year’s toward the more traditional lunar New Year’s, which tends to fall around early to mid February.
On New Year’s Day, children will do ceremonial bows to their elders and collect pocket money. It’s quite lucrative. Maybe even more so than Christmas is for kids in the West. This is where it pays to have a big, extended family.
There are also feasts, and the mandatory dish is called tteok-guk, which is a soup that includes chewy, disc-shaped rice cakes.
In traditional Korean culture, you don’t add a year to your age on your birthday but on New Year’s Day. And kids are told that if they don’t eat tteok-guk, they can’t add a year, which, when you’re a kid, is a huge incentive to eat the dish. (Remember when you actually wanted to be older?)
Given that option today as an adult, one might avoid the dish in search of eternal youth, except for the fact that it’s too good to pass up.
Here’s a recipe and a video on how to make rice cake soup from Maangchi, everyone’s favorite Korean chef on YouTube.
Wishing everyone a merry Christmas, happy holidays and a fruitful new year!
About the Author:
Paul H.B. Shin’s debut novel follows a career as an award-winning journalist for more than 20 years, most recently for ABC News. He previously wrote for the New York Daily News. He was born in South Korea and lived in London during his childhood. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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Half Life by Paul H.B. Shin
Thriller
Fiery Seas Publishing
September 2016
The year is 1997. North Korea is suffering from a devastating famine that has shaken the foundation of the ruling class. A series of high-profile defections to the West has lead the reclusive country's leadership into the grasp of paranoia.
Nuclear scientist Han Chol-Soo is on a tenuous diplomatic mission to the United States. There he is forced to embark upon a high-stakes pursuit after his wife disappears with their newborn son. Paralyzed with fear at the repercussions of her decision, Han turns to his colleague Park Jun-Young for help -- a man that he suspects is an intelligence operative. He soon regrets his decision as Park cuts a swath of mayhem in the name of helping Han, and the chase forces Han to confront the harsh realities of his home country.
