This week on Jeju: A to Z, Todd Thacker gives us a bit more information about Chuseok, next week’s highly anticipated extended national holiday that has its roots in the autumn harvest.

The Chuseok harvest festival is big news, and for some very good reasons. Along with the Lunar New Year, or Seollal, Chuseok has always meant a great deal to the Korean people.

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Originally a harvest festival, now a welcome national holiday

In addition to marking the end of the summer growing season, it’s a welcome break from work and school, affording families the opportunity to gather and catch up on the events of their busy lives.

This year the holiday begins on a Sunday, so it will be possible to get up to five consecutive days’ vacation, somewhat fewer than last year.

Still, with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off, that doesn’t mean people won’t be busy. For one, there’s plenty of cooking to do since the ceremonial dishes are rather elaborate and require a lot preparation.

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Jeju dishes differ in many ways from mainland Chuseok fare

Jeju’s Chuseok fare differs from that of other parts of Korea in a number of interesting ways. This includes the songpyeon rice cakes, which here are shaped not as half moons like on the mainland, but full moons. Jeju mountain bracken, or gosari, too, appears prominently in Chuseok dishes like jeon, a kind of savory pancake side-dish.

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Todd Thacker

All in all, this beloved national holiday is a well-earned break from our hectic modern lives. Here’s to a relaxing and eventful Chuseok!

Todd Thacker KCTV