Chuseok, literally "Autumn eve", also known as hangawi, from archaic Korean for "the great middle (of autumn)", is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar on the full moon. Like many other harvest festivals around the world, it is held around the autumn equinox, i.e. at the very end of summer or in early autumn.
In contemporary South Korea, on Chuseok, masses of people travel from large cities to their hometowns to pay respect to the spirits of their ancestors. Chuseok celebrates the bountiful harvest and strives for the next year to be better than the last. People perform ancestral worship rituals early in the morning. Then, they visit the tombs of their immediate ancestors to trim plants and clean the area around the tomb and offer food, drink, and crops to their ancestors. South Koreans consider autumn the best season of the year due to clear skies, cool winds, and it is a perfect harvesting season. Harvest crops are attributed to the blessing of ancestors.
Chuseok is commonly translated as "Korean Thanksgiving" in American English. Although most South Koreans will be visiting their families and ancestral homes, there are festivities held at the National Folk Museum of Korea. Many places are closed during this national holiday, including banks, schools, post offices, governmental departments, stores, etc. Travel tickets are usually sold out three months in advance, and roads and hotels are overcrowded.
Korean celebrities are greeting their fans for Chuseok in their unique ways. For Park Seo Joon, it was by sharing baby photos of himself. On the 2nd, Seo-joon Park posted a photo on his Instagram with a post saying, "It will be difficult for all of you to spend time with your family, but have a good holiday." Fans were quick to point out that one of the first things that caught their eye was his naughty and playful charm and gleaming eyes. Fans were overwhelmingly happy with this photo.
Park Seo Joon is currently filming Lee Byeong Hun's 'Dream' alongside IU and fans can't wait to see him on the big screen again. We wish Park Seo Joon all the success with his upcoming film!
