The Ministry of Personnel Management said April 28 that the Cabinet passed a partial revision to the regulation on public holidays for government offices, adding the two days and applying substitute holidays when they overlap with weekends or other holidays.
The move follows the National Assembly’s passage in January and March of amendments to the Public Holidays Act to designate Constitution Day and Labor Day as public holidays.
Labor Day had been observed as “Workers’ Day” under a 1963 law, giving private-sector employees a paid day off. But public officials, teachers and others not covered by the Labor Standards Act were not guaranteed leave. After the name was changed to “Labor Day” through a legal revision in November last year, it is now a public holiday for the first time in 63 years, extending the day off to all citizens.
Constitution Day marks the promulgation of South Korea’s Constitution on July 17, 1948. It was designated a national holiday and public holiday in 1949, but was removed from the public holiday calendar in 2008 with the introduction of the five-day workweek. The latest action restores it as a public holiday for the first time in 18 years.
Choi Dong-seok, head of the ministry, said designating the two days as public holidays “has value beyond simply adding another day off,” and expressed hope it would prompt the public to reflect on the value of labor and constitutional principles, including popular sovereignty.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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