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[WHY] 'Valentine's Day, with Santa': How Christmas became a couples' holiday in Korea

Published: 21 Dec. 2024, 07:00

SHIN MIN-HEE
[email protected]

Visitors look at decorated Christmas trees at a resort in Busan on Nov. 8. [JOONGANG ILBO]

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” sings the late American pop singer Andy Williams in his popular 1963 Christmas song that continues to make its way back into people’s ears every year in December.

With the holiday's Christian origins, the song's message may ring true for the religious or those anticipating the holiday spirit. But for singles in Korea, who consider — or are perhaps pressured by social norms — Christmas can be a lonesome and depressing day.

Visitors take photos of Shinsegae's annual Christmas-themed media facade show in Jung District, central Seoul, on Nov. 1 [SHINSEGAE DEPARTMENT STORE]

Christmas in Korea is basically a romantic celebration, with foreign media publications reporting their fascination around the holiday’s secular nature in the country. The Los Angeles Times and Forbes both have likened Christmas in Korea to Valentine’s Day — but with Santa Claus.

"I'm not really a fan of Christmas because the only people out on the streets are couples," says Moses Lee, a 27-year-old living in Seoul. "Christmas is supposed to be a jolly holiday that you spend with your family. In Korea, it's a day where singles like me are pitied, and then we end up feeling sorry for ourselves."

Korea’s neighbor Japan is also no stranger to treating Christmas as a lover’s holiday. But the simple reason is that Christianity barely makes up 2 percent of the population, making efforts around its traditional observance obviously feeble.

The Yoido Full Gospel Church in western Seoul holds its annual Christmas service on Dec. 25, 2023. [YONHAP]

But it’s a different case for Korea. It's the only East Asian country that has designated Christmas a legal holiday. Korea boasts a multitude of churches, and it’s a common joke to say that there are more churches than convenience stores in the country, as proven in 2014 by a JTBC report. The report found that there were three times as many churches in Korea, roughly 78,000, than convenience stores, 25,000.

The Yoido Full Gospel Church in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, was named the world’s biggest church congregation by the Guinness World Records in 1993, with more than 700,000 members at the time.

Such ambivalence triggers the question: How important is the birthday of Jesus in Korea?

Installation view of The Hyundai Seoul's Christmas village-themed pop-up in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul [THE HYUNDAI SEOUL]

Dating on Christmas

As each year inches closer to Christmas, a similar pattern emerges, beginning as early as Sept. 17. This day effectively earned the name “Gobaek Day,” which translates to “Confession Day,” since the concept sprung up online sometime in the 2010s and has been popularized among teenagers and people in their 20s.

It’s a day considered perfect to jump freshly into a romantic relationship because Dec. 25 becomes the 100th day of the relationship, a customary milestone for most couples in Korea.

“Today is Gobaek Day, bidding my farewells to Christmas this year,” reads a post on online community platform Blind dated Sept. 17, 2019. Another post from the same day in 2023 reads, “So, who hit the jackpot on Gobaek Day? Tell me, who is it but me?”

Christmas is so closely correlated with spending it with your lover that there are phrases like “singles’ heaven" and "couples’ hell” that make frequent appearances online as a lighthearted jab of jealousy.

The singles who were unfortunate in finding a mate respond to the holiday by saying things like, “Christmas is meant to be spent with Kevin!” referring to the protagonist played by Macaulay Culkin in the comedy film “Home Alone” (1990), which is a staple holiday movie broadcast on cable television.

For couples, Christmas is a day for splurging on expensive dinners and gifts. It’s a particularly busy day for luxurious hotels and restaurants, with a surge in reservations that tend to book out quickly. Even the hotels that have rooms available see at least a twofold price increase for those trying to check in on Christmas Eve.

Popular fine dining restaurants, like Gortz, were already fully booked on Dec. 24 and 25 on the CatchTable restaurant reservation app as of mid-December. Restaurants Hancook, n Grill and The Place Dining, all managed by CJ Foodville and located at the N Seoul Tower observatory in central Seoul, said that Christmas Eve is naturally a full house for them.

Luxury five-star hotels, like The Shilla Seoul, Four Seasons Hotel Seoul and Grand Hyatt Seoul, roll out Christmas cakes that, despite their ridiculously high prices that skyrocket up to 400,000 won ($279), are also super competitive to purchase.

Additionally, convenience store chain 7-Eleven announced that sales for condoms on Christmas were 2.5 times higher than on an average day in 2013.

A Christmas parade is held at the Everland amusement park in Yongin, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 16. [YONHAP]

Why so secular?

For starters, Christians make up a relatively small portion of Korea's entire population. According to data from the Korean National Association of Christian Pastors, 63 percent of Koreans identify as nonreligious, as of January 2024. Protestants make up 17 percent, or some 8.7 million, and Catholics make up 8 percent, or 4.1 million.

Korea also already has two family-oriented holidays during which people take days-long or even weeks-long breaks: Seollal, or Lunar New Year, around January or February, and Chuseok, the harvest festival, around September. These were each designated as a three-day holiday, making them convenient for spending time with family as opposed to the one-day Christmas holiday.

When considering the history of Christmas in Korea, it’s safe to say that the emphasis was more on the merrymaking aspect rather than the sacred significance. Christianity is less embedded in Korea's social and cultural aspects, as it had a late entry into the country when compared to Buddhism. Buddhism, on the other hand, has a history in Korea from the year 372, during the Three Kingdoms period (57 B.C.-A.D. 676). Buddhism thrived as the state religion during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), and its influence is found heavily in historical contexts and cultural artifacts to this day.

The streets of Seoul with Christmas decorations in December, 1965 [NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF KOREA]

Korea's Christmas history

Catholicism and Protestantism were introduced to the country in the late 18th century and late 19th century, respectively. According to local reports, Mary F. Scranton, an American missionary who founded the Ewha Haktang, the first modern educational institution for women in Korea, set up the country’s first Christmas tree in 1886. Pai Chai School, another educational institution founded by American missionary Henry Appenzeller, gave students presents in Korea’s first Christmas stockings in 1887, which also became the first time Koreans learned of Santa Claus.

Modern news outlets that emerged in the early 20th century, like the Dongnip Sinmun (The Independent), Chosun Ilbo and DongA Ilbo, also had a vital role in publicizing the holiday, according to the Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture published by the National Folk Museum of Korea.

A Dongnip Sinmun article dated Dec. 24, 1886, is recorded as the first Korean article to ever write about the birthday of Jesus Christ.

These newspapers would report on Christmas festivals hosted by churches every year, giving non-Christians the idea that Christmas is a recreational day.

Christmas became even more mainstream after Korea gained independence from Japan’s 35 years of colonial rule in 1945. Soon after, Christmas was designated a legal holiday while Korea was under U.S. military rule between 1945 and 1948, despite the percentage of Christians at the time being only 3 percent. Even Korea’s first president Syngman Rhee (1875-1965) was a devout Christian.

Chirstmas decorations in front of Seoul Station in central Seoul on Dec. 24, 1969 [NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF KOREA]

Korea had a nationwide nighttime curfew from 1945 to 1982 with Christmas Eve being one of the few days that had an exception, allowing people to freely roam the streets at night — a perfect opportunity for lovers to meet.

Prof. Tark Ji-il, a church history expert at the Busan Presbyterian University, estimates that it was around this period that Korea became largely impacted by American culture.

“Because Christmas is one of the United States' most important holidays, it permeated into Korea, but due to the low percentage of Christians in Korea, the cultural aspects were embraced more than the religious aspects,” Prof. Tark told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

“And Christmas comes when school is on vacation, students are done with college entrance examinations and you see the first blanket of snow of the season — it’s a time of wrapping up the year.”

Churchgoers in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, give a Christmas choir performance on Dec. 25, 2023. [OH SEUNG-AHN]

Christian celebrations in Korea

As recently as the 1970s and 1980s, Korean churches used to carol in the streets and hand out gifts and snacks in less-urban neighborhoods. However, housing environments have now shifted to apartments, especially in Seoul, and close-knit communities have become a thing of the past, with noise disputes among different floors becoming a widespread issue.

Nowadays, churches tend to keep their Christmas celebrations to themselves — within worship services or masses.

Oh Seung-ahn, a 26-year-old Christian living in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, has been preparing for a Christmas choir performance with the elementary school-level Sunday School class that he teaches.

“The students have been making additional time for the past few weekends, practicing for about 30 to 40 minutes each time,” Oh said. He expects to spend the majority of Christmas Day in a special service that doubles as an extravagant get-together, filled with special performances across all ages and groups in his church.

“I do feel it’s a shame that Christmas is now less about celebrating the true meaning, considering it’s the biggest holiday in Christianity,” Oh continued. “I’ve even heard that some children don’t know it’s the day Jesus was born and simply think it’s a day to receive presents.”

Installation view of the Lotte Christmas Market in Songpa District, southern Seoul [LOTTE DEPARTMENT STORE]

Places to go on Christmas

Christmas Day is not only a festive day for couples, but it’s also a battle among Korea’s big three department stores. For the stores, big displays equal more guests — meaning more potential customers.

Every year, Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae bring to the table distinctive spectacles of their own. While all three department stores declined to comment that they see each other as competition, they did unanimously admit that they don’t take their Christmas decorations lightly. Each year, the scale of these picturesque settings continues to get bigger, along with updates in content.

Shinsegae increased the size of its digital signage by 13 percent, which displays the four-minute-long show titled “Pursuit of Christmas Moments,” in Jung District, central Seoul. The screen is equivalent to three basketball courts, Shinsegae said, and over 200,000 visitors visited the display in the first 10 days of lighting it up on Nov. 1. A spokesperson for the department store said preparation for the digital show began as far back as January.

Lotte’s Christmas market in Songpa District, southern Seoul, after seeing 240,000 visitors during its one-month run last year, increased the scale by 20 percent to a 700-pyeong (24,908-square-foot) site. The Hyundai Seoul saw 500,000 visitors for two months last year to its fifth-floor, Christmas village-themed photo op that spans 1,000 pyeong.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been jumping on the Christmas celebration bandwagon as well, erecting a 19-meter (62-foot) tall Christmas tree, an ice rink and Christmas market all in the central Seoul areas of City Hall and Gwanghwamun Square.

Monks participate in the annual Christmas lighting ceremony at Jogye Temple in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 17. [NEWS1]

There’s even an unexpected participant joining to spread the holiday cheer in Korea, and it’s none other than the Jogye Order, the largest Buddhist sect in the country.

For more than a dozen years, the order has lit up a life-size Christmas tree-shaped lantern made from hanji (traditional Korean mulberry paper) at Jogye Temple in Jongno District, central Seoul, along with a caroling performance featuring monks, priests and pastors.

“The tradition started based on the fact that Korea is a multireligious country,” a spokesperson for the Jogye Order told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “It’s not exclusive to us. Churches regularly announce congratulatory messages on Buddha’s Birthday, too. It’s a mutual understanding among each religion to pay respect to each holiday.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]