A year of 다사다난 (dah-sah-dah-nan: eventful) conditions and situations, 2021 is behind us and the new year, 2022 has arrived. The number of 2022 personally brings me back to some of my memories of the sci-fi movies I may watch when I was younger. These movies typically start with a quote, such as ‘In 2022, people in the world are moving to the Moon…’ and a story goes on. It sounded incredibly far into the future for a little girl in the 1990’s, yet it is here with us.

 

 

2022 is called 임인년 (im-in-nyeon: the Black Tiger Year) or it is the Black Tiger, the 39th year in the 육십갑자 (yook-sip-gap-ja: sexagenary cycle). The sexagenary cycle is the Stems-and-Branches or Ganzhi. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexagenary_cycle). 

Many people are excited to embrace 2022 because the combination of the color of black and the animal of the tiger rarely happens. Today, I will share some big events in 2022 in Korea. 

 

 

1. Koreans celebrate New Year’s Day Twice

Some Koreans may not consider that the year of 2022 hasn’t really come yet since 구정 (goo-jeong: Lunar New Year) is a more significant holiday than 신정 (sin-jeong: New Year’s Day) in Korea. The first of January is celebrated like the rest of the world, however Koreans do have a special way to celebrate a new coming year by celebrating 설날 (Seollal: Korean New Year’s Day or Lunar New Year’s Day, same as 구정). 

 

 

This 3-day holiday, 설날 usually comes about a month later after New Year’s Day. One thing you want to remember is that there is no fixed date for 구정 because it relies on the Lunar calendar. In other words, you would likely have 구정 on a different date every year. In 2022, 구정 falls on the first of February. 구정 연휴 (yeon-hwui: a long weekend or holiday) starts on 1월 31일 (il-wol-sam-sip-il-il: on the 31st in January) and ends on 2월 1일 (il-wol-on the 2nd in February).

 

     2. Korean Politics Calendar in 2022

In 2022, Koreans will be busy 행사하다 (hang-sah-hah-dah: to exercise) their 투표권 (too-pyo-gwon: voting rights) between March and June.

 

 

March:

Koreans will have a chance to vote for a new president. There is the 20th 대통령선거 (dae-tong-ryeong-sun-guh: a presidential election) in March. The date is on the 9th of March, and it is a 법정 공휴일 (bup-jeong-gong-hui-il: a legal holiday or a national holiday). Korean citizens can vote anytime between 6 am to 6 pm. 

 

May:

대통령 취임식 (dae-tong-ryeong-chi-im-sik: the Presidential Inauguration day) is on the 10th of May. 

 

June:

동시 (dong-si: simultaneous, at the same time) 지방선거 (ji-bang-sun-guh: local/regional election, provincial election) is on the first of June. 

 

3. Substitute Holidays in 2022 

 

There are a total number of 118 national holidays in 2022, including 대체 공휴일 (dae-che-gong-hwui-il: a substitute holiday). Luckily, Koreans will have two more additional holidays compared to 2021.

 

한글날 (Hangullal: Hangul Proclamation Day) is on the 9th of October. It happens to be on Sunday this year. I hope this extra day would bring you time to study Korean in a more enjoyable way.

 

In September, 추석 (Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving Day) starts on the 9th and runs through the 11th. 추석 연휴 ( yeon-hwui: a long weekend or holiday) usually lasts 3 days and the last day of 연휴 this year falls on Sunday. Therefore, it will add one more day on 연휴 according to 대체 공휴일 법 (dae-che-gong-hwui-il-bup: a law of the substitute holiday).

 

In the last month of 2022, Koreans will have to celebrate 성탄절 (seong-tahn-jeol: Christmas) on Sunday because 성탄절 on Sunday is not 적용되다 (juk-yong-dwe-dah: to be applicable) for 대체 공휴일 법. 

 

 

What are your plans for 2022? Have you already made your vacation plans? I am excited for many Koreans that they would enjoy two more additional holidays this year. Most of all, I wish that they choose the best leaders in Korea.