some nations boast a series of developed cities ripe as another, and some where the only civilization can be found in their main Capital . in case of South Korea it is the latter, the price of conccentrating on ONE large mold to develop quickly, awed by their large AND powerful neighbors . so much so is concentrated in Seoul that they had to build and develop further surrounding so-called satellite cities . so it is these satellite cities that naturally are more advanced than demographically-held number two or three cities like Busan or Pusan, Daegu or Taegu, Gwangju or Kwangju, Daejeon and incheon . thus citizens more-so the young come from all around the Penninsula to take part in this good-life . and come Korea’s number-one holiday season in ThanksGiving (second is Lunar New Years, then New Years) all close shop to return to their hometown .

true, all return home to pay respects to immediate ancestors following the Korean tradition but also to boast how much they have succeeded in the ultimate Capital, preferably with a /nice/ new car in a land where much competition is always among a packed population .

and also true : more and more Koreans are opting to vacation abroad during traditional holidays liberally, instead of following the age-old tradition by simply visiting their hometown briefly a weekend earlier OR past . but still a bulk of the majority returns home during these holidays . the same mass exodus in traffic on the highway as well on railroad tracks can be seen on the second-most traditional holiday of Lunar New Years and then Summer vacation Season with roughly starts from July 25th to August 15th.

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as you can see from the calendar above : this year’s ThanksGiving in Korea is smack in the middle of the week in September 22nd Wednesday . and since a day before AND after consist of the official holidays it give only Monday and then Friday left on either side .

be foretold that Saturdays are half-off, half-working weekend in Korea, Post-Millennium – meaning roughly half of business close while the other are open like in the good ol’days – and the guilt-feeling ones taking the best of both Worlds in employees taking turns taking off Saturdays after the other .

and as explained everyone is heading for rural countryside both by car as well as by train, so traffic on major port-of-entry and exit are clogged at the onset AND end of these holidays . (however in luck this year, for some have left on the weekend before and may return the weekend after since the holiday is mid-week ) and downtown : will be like Paris in the middle of Summer : empty . an unusual chance for you to stoll along a quiet, peacefull metropolis of metropolis .

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[ Government Office and Banks ] closed 21st Tuesday, 22nd Wednesday and 23rd Thursday . leaving only Monday AND Friday open .

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[ Business Offices ] some small business may be taking the whole week off considering business ain’t good anyhow .
but most work Monday while opting to take Friday off too .
larger business which may have to work internationally, will follow the official holidays and be open both Monday AND Friday .

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[ YongSan Electronics Market District ] business will follow holiday criteria of the building they are operating in .
(see the map in my ‘YongSan Electronics Market District’ Page above)
some will be closed Monday also, but all will return to business Friday .

where-as ‘JeonJaLand’ translated as Electronics Land, the original landmark of this whole YongSan Electronics Market District, will close only the 3 days of 21st, 22nd and 23rd thus open both Monday AND Friday ~ yeppee !

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[ Electronics Dedicated Buildings] TechnoMart as well as their latter Western brothren at ShinDoRim
will close Tuesday 21st AND Wednesday 22nd ONLY, while most food levels will NOT close at all .

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[ Department Stores ] most major department stores including Lotte, Shinsegae and HyunDai Department Stores will close only Wednesday 22nd AND Thursday 23rd
while operating extended hours the weekend before AND after the holidays (‘after’ because many exchange Gift Cards as presents).

same is for the latest mammoth shopping complex of Centum City at HaeUnDae crossing in the port city of Busan or Pusan, where Shinsegae Department Store occupies the largest mass area .
still, major entertainment area such as Spa Land(1F), Ice Skating Rink(4F), Kyobo BookStore(5F) and CGV Movie Theatre(7F) will be open throughout the holidays .

 

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[ Shopping Mall Complexes throughout South Korea ] OK, lots of independent shops contained in mega, mammoth shopping outlets so roughly
only 30% will close on Tuesday AND Thursday, while most 70% will close on Korean ThanksGiving Day on Wednesday 22nd
in case of COEX Mall in SamSungDong, South of the Han River .

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 [ SuperMarts ] most major supermarts including eMart, HomePlus and LotteMart will be close ONLY ON Korean ThanksGiving Day on Wednesday 22nd .
mind-you most supermarts now offer On-Line orders to be delivered on your choice of 3 to 5, and some even 7 times a day !

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all in all, it really is unthinkable in the traditional sense of ultimately a much traditional nation to have so many shops still open during Korea’s number ONE holiday, but nomatter what you see : times are still bad lingering after IMF AND modern, democratic mindset have set in where NOT everyone has to do the same certain things during holidays .

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– Korea Tech BLog, September 2010 –