(Illustration by Hyemin Lee/Stripes Korea)
Korea is the only East Asian country that celebrates Christmas as a public holiday. This traces back to Syngman Rhee, Korea’s first president and an independence activist with strong ties to the United States. Supported by the Christian community and influenced by his years of studying in the U.S. at George Washington, Harvard and Princeton, Rhee promoted American-style democracy. After liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, the U.S. military government designated Christmas as a holiday in South Korea, and Rhee later made it official during his presidency.
Hyuil (Holiday in Korean) (Image by Stripes Korea)