Chuseok Explained — Korea's Thanksgiving Harvest Festival

If you watch K-dramas long enough, you'll eventually see a Chuseok episode — the whole family gathering at the grandparents' house, a table heavy with food, characters in beautiful traditional clothing. Chuseok (추석) is often called "Korean Thanksgiving," and it's one of the two biggest holidays of the year.

Here's everything you need to understand it.

What does Chuseok mean?

The word Chuseok (추석) roughly means "autumn evening." It's also known as Hangawi (한가위), an older native Korean name meaning "the great middle of autumn." The festival falls on the night of a full harvest moon, which is central to its meaning — a moment of abundance, completeness, and gratitude.

At its heart, Chuseok is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it was the time when families gave thanks for a good crop and shared the season's bounty. Even in modern, urban Korea, that spirit of gratitude and family togetherness remains the core of the holiday.

The main Chuseok traditions

The food of Chuseok

Food is at the centre of Chuseok, and families often spend long hours preparing it together.

🌙 Songpyeon — the signature dish

The single most iconic Chuseok food is songpyeon (송편) — small, half-moon-shaped rice cakes filled with sweet ingredients like sesame seeds, sweet beans, or chestnut paste. They're steamed over a layer of pine needles, which gives them a delicate fragrance. Families traditionally make songpyeon together the night before, and there's an old saying that those who make beautifully shaped songpyeon will have beautiful children.

🍲 The Chuseok feast

Beyond songpyeon, a Chuseok table typically includes jeon (savoury pan-fried fritters of vegetables, fish, and meat), japchae (stir-fried glass noodles), freshly harvested fruits, grilled fish, and many seasonal side dishes. The amount of cooking involved is enormous — and in modern Korea, the heavy workload of holiday cooking, often falling on women, has become an important social conversation.

Traditional Chuseok activities

• Hanbok — Many people wear hanbok, traditional Korean clothing, during Chuseok, especially for the ancestral rites.
• Ganggangsullae — A traditional circle dance performed by women under the full moon, now recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage.
• Ssireum — Traditional Korean wrestling, historically held as a Chuseok competition.
• Folk games — Families play traditional games together, including the board game yutnori.

Chuseok in modern Korea

Like Thanksgiving in the West, Chuseok today is a mix of cherished tradition and modern reality. Many families still hold charye and make songpyeon together. But others use the long holiday differently — travelling abroad, taking a rest, or having simpler gatherings. Younger generations increasingly question some of the holiday's pressures, especially the unequal burden of cooking and the stress of family expectations.

This tension — between tradition and modern life — is exactly why Chuseok appears so often in K-dramas. It's a setting rich with family drama, reunion, conflict, and reconciliation.

How to greet someone at Chuseok

If you want to wish a Korean friend a happy Chuseok, the standard greeting is:

"행복한 추석 보내세요" (haengbokan Chuseok bonaeseyo) — "Have a happy Chuseok."
Or simply: "즐거운 한가위 되세요" (jeulgeoun Hangawi doeseyo) — "Have a joyful Hangawi."