What January 2026 records show about Korean weather and estimated foreign visitors, plus January 2027 daylight and holiday dates, region by region.
January in Korea is a winter of sharp contrasts, from cold mountain stations to a milder Busan and Jeju, and the January 2026 records show how far apart they can sit.
Short answers
Is Korea in January worth visiting? That depends on whether you want winter. In January 2026 the Seoul station recorded snow on 8 days and a mean temperature of -3.6 °C, while the Busan station recorded no snow days and a mean of 3.0 °C. This page gives the numbers so you can judge how much cold you want.
Who is January best for? The records point to people who want winter weather and who are happy to choose a region on purpose: the cold Gangwon mountains, Seoul with snow on some days, or the milder south coast and Jeju. Pyeongchang is known for its ski resorts, and its estimated foreign visitors ran above its 12-month mean in January 2026. The estimates alone do not show what those visitors came to do.
Is there a Lunar New Year rush? Not in January 2027. Seollal and its substitute holiday run from February 6 to February 9, 2027, so the Lunar New Year holiday falls in February.
Weather: how cold is Korea in January?
These are readings from four Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) stations for January 2026. They describe that one month at those stations. They are not a forecast and not a rule for every January.
| Station | Monthly mean temperature, January 2026 | Mean daily minimum, January 2026 | Days with snow, January 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daegwallyeong | -7.8 °C | -13.5 °C | no figure on this page |
| Seoul | -3.6 °C | -7.8 °C | 8 days |
| Busan | 3.0 °C | -1.3 °C | 0 days |
| Jeju | 5.9 °C | 3.0 °C | 8 days |
Daegwallyeong, a mountain station in Gangwon, had the lowest monthly mean temperature of the four in January 2026, at -7.8 °C, and a mean daily minimum of -13.5 °C. The Seoul station followed at -3.6 °C, with a mean daily minimum of -7.8 °C. The Busan station had a monthly mean of 3.0 °C and a mean daily minimum of -1.3 °C. The Jeju station had a monthly mean of 5.9 °C and a mean daily minimum of 3.0 °C.
What is Seoul's weather in January, and does it snow? The Seoul station recorded snow on 8 days in January 2026. The Jeju station also recorded snow on 8 days, and the Busan station on 0 days. A mean daily minimum is an average of each day's lowest reading, so it says nothing about any single morning.
Daylight in Seoul
Daylight grows through the month. For a point in central Seoul, in Korea Standard Time, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) calculator gives these values for January 2027:
- January 1, 2027: sunrise about 07:46, sunset about 17:23, and about 576 minutes of daylight.
- January 31, 2027: sunrise about 07:37, sunset about 17:53, and about 616 minutes of daylight.
Foreign visitor estimates by region
The chart above and the table below use Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) DataLab estimated daily foreign visitors. Each figure is a daily mean for January 2026 compared with the daily mean of the twelve months ending January 2026 for the same region. Every row rests on 31 of 31 days in January 2026 and 365 of 365 days in the twelve months ending January 2026. The figures are not added across days, regions or levels, and district rows are parts of their province or city row.
| Region | Daily mean, January 2026 | 12-month daily mean | Change versus 12-month mean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seoul | 108,516 | 131,804 | -18% |
| Busan | 32,686 | 40,725 | -20% |
| Jeju | 29,559 | 40,191 | -26% |
| Gangwon | 8,370 | 9,239 | -9% |
| Gyeonggi | 55,984 | 67,204 | -17% |
| Incheon | 56,974 | 69,044 | -17% |
| Pyeongchang (district) | 1,255 | 904 | +39% |
| Jeongseon (district) | 215 | 295 | -27% |
| Hongcheon (district) | 1,468 | 1,322 | +11% |
| Jung-gu, the Seoul district that includes Myeongdong | 52,716 | 60,839 | -13% |
In January 2026, each of the six provinces and cities was below its own 12-month mean: Seoul by 18%, Busan by 20%, Jeju by 26%, Gangwon by 9%, Gyeonggi by 17% and Incheon by 17%. Among the districts, Pyeongchang was 39% above its mean and Hongcheon 11% above, while Jeongseon was 27% below and Jung-gu 13% below. The Gangwon counties therefore did not move together. This page has no figure that explains the differences.
What can you do in Seoul in January? Seoul is known for its palaces, museums, markets and shopping streets such as Myeongdong in Jung-gu. This page has no event schedule, opening hours or price figures for January.
Holidays and key dates
This page lists one public holiday in January 2027: New Year's Day on January 1, 2027. Seollal, the Lunar New Year holiday, falls after the month, from February 6 to February 9, 2027, and that span includes a substitute holiday.
The visitor estimates show how the same holidays looked in 2026. For each window, the daily average is compared with the mean of the four nearest same-weekday non-holiday observations before the window starts.
- New Year's Day, January 1, 2026 (a single day): Seoul +30%, Busan +33%, Jeju +46%, Gangwon +25%, Pyeongchang +95%, Jeongseon +27% and Hongcheon +26%.
- Seollal, February 16 to February 18, 2026 (3 of 3 days paired): Pyeongchang +65%, Jeongseon +68% and Hongcheon +59%.
These are past windows, and each rests on a handful of days at most. They show that the Gangwon counties moved with the holidays in 2026. They do not forecast 2027.
January or February?
Seollal fell on February 16 to February 18 in 2026 and falls on February 6 to February 9 in 2027, so in both years the Lunar New Year holiday sits in February. The table sets January 2026 beside February 2026, each against its own 12-month mean of daily foreign visitor estimates.
| Region | January 2026 versus 12-month mean | February 2026 versus 12-month mean |
|---|---|---|
| Seoul | -18% | -10% |
| Busan | -20% | -4% |
| Jeju | -26% | -5% |
| Gangwon | -9% | -7% |
| Gyeonggi | -17% | -14% |
| Incheon | -17% | -9% |
| Pyeongchang (district) | +39% | +57% |
| Jeongseon (district) | -27% | -7% |
| Hongcheon (district) | +11% | +22% |
| Jung-gu (district) | -13% | -4% |
In each of the ten rows, the February 2026 percentage was higher than the January 2026 one. Busan's daily mean was 40,493 in February 2026 and Jeju's was 38,931, while Pyeongchang's was 1,472 and Hongcheon's was 1,668. The data cannot separate Seollal from other differences between the two months, and the 2026 pattern is not a forecast for 2027.
The plain reading is this: in 2027, January has no Lunar New Year holiday, because Seollal runs from February 6 to February 9, 2027. In January 2026, estimated foreign visitors sat below their 12-month means in each of the six provinces and cities shown. A February 2027 trip that includes February 6 to February 9, 2027 would overlap with Seollal, and a January 2027 trip would not.
Sources
- Korea Tourism Organization DataLab regional visitor estimates (data.go.kr dataset 15101972)
- KMA Open MET Data Portal, ASOS daily data lookup
- Korea Meteorological Administration, ASOS daily observations (data.go.kr 15059093)
- Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, sunrise and sunset time calculator
- Korea Law Information Center, Regulations on Holidays of Government Offices
- Korea AeroSpace Administration, announcement of the 2026 Wollyeok Yohang (calendar outline)
- Korea AeroSpace Administration, announcement of the 2027 Wollyeok Yohang (calendar outline)
Checked on October 17, 2026.