Every commercial bank in Korea closes for four straight days this Chuseok: Thursday 24 September through Sunday 27 September. Three of those are official public holidays (24-26), the fourth is an ordinary Sunday, and they happen to land back to back. Wednesday 23 September is your last day at a counter.
ATMs keep working the whole time. What stops is everything that needs a human behind glass.
What closes, what keeps running
| Service | 24-27 September |
|---|---|
| Bank branches (counter service) | Closed all four days |
| Over-the-counter currency exchange | Closed |
| Government offices, post offices | Closed |
| Bank, subway and convenience-store ATMs | Running |
| Airport exchange booths | Running |
The distinction that catches people out is the one between an ATM and a counter. Cash withdrawal is fine. Anything that needs a teller is not: opening an account, replacing a lost card, sorting out a blocked transfer, changing a large sum of cash, or getting a certificate stamped.
If you send money home
This is the part worth planning around. Bank transfers initiated over a holiday sit in a queue until the next business day, which here means Monday 28 September. If money needs to land somewhere by a certain date, count backwards from the 23rd, not from the 28th.
I learned this the slow way. I once started a transfer on the evening before a long holiday, assumed it had gone through because the app showed it as submitted, and only found out four days later that it had not moved at all. The app was telling the truth, I just read “submitted” as “sent.” Now I treat the last banking day before a holiday as the real deadline and leave a day on top of it.
Cash, and how much
Card works nearly everywhere in Seoul, so the case for carrying cash is narrower than it used to be. It still comes up in three places: small neighbourhood restaurants, traditional markets, and temple or festival stalls, which are exactly the places you might end up during Chuseok.
Convenience-store ATMs charge a fee per withdrawal and some cap foreign-card withdrawals at a low limit, so pulling cash in one go on the 23rd usually costs less than four separate trips. Worth checking your own card’s daily limit before the holiday rather than at 11pm outside a CU.
If you are still deciding where to go over the four days, what stays open in Seoul during Chuseok covers the shops and restaurants side, and the palaces are free across the same four days. Flying anywhere? The 24th and the 27th are the days to avoid.
Questions that come up
Q. Can I exchange currency at all during the holiday?
A. At the airport, yes. Booths at Incheon and Gimpo run through the holiday. In the city, bank counters are shut, so plan a city exchange for the 23rd or earlier.
Q. Will my card work on the 25th?
A. Yes. Card networks and ATMs are unaffected by the bank holiday. It is branch service that stops.
Q. What if my card gets blocked during the holiday?
A. Most Korean banks run a phone line even when branches are closed, and several have English-language support, but replacement cards will not be issued until the 28th. If you only carry one card, carry some cash as backup for these four days.
Q. Are these dates fixed?
A. The public holidays are set by law. What can vary is individual branch hours on the 23rd and the 28th, so check your own branch if you need a specific service.
One date is the whole thing: 23 September. Whatever needs a person at a bank, do it by then. Everything after that is ATMs and cards until Monday the 28th.
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