Korea · events
Seoul has weather. The rest of the country has opinions.
Cherry forecasts, monsoon weeks, and a harvest festival that is actually about family — not your camera roll. Come for a season, not a single parade timestamp you found on a 2019 blog.
Typical windows. Confirm on VisitKorea / city sites the year you fly.
Spring
Blossoms often start in the south and reach Seoul around early April — 2026-style forecasts move. Yeouido and palace grounds get thick. Go early or pick a less famous park and keep your dignity.
Buddha’s Birthday (lunar — date moves)
Lanterns, temples, a city that looks briefly like it is exhaling gold. Dress modestly at temples. This is devotion for a lot of people, not a set.
Summer
Heat + humidity + occasional monsoon. Beaches and Busan make sense. Indoor days are not failure. Boryeong mud festival exists and is as messy as advertised — only if that is your joy.
Chuseok is Korea’s big family harvest holiday (lunar, usually autumn). Trains sell out. You are a guest in someone else’s reunion week.
Autumn
Best walking. Mountains turn. Seoul feels possible again. Book Seoraksan or a fortress if you like stairs with a view.
Winter
Dry cold, ice festivals in some years, markets, and the pleasure of a jjimjilbang after. Lights festivals pop up — pretty, crowded, optional.