Korea in Brief

Korea has four seasons which show distinct differences as follows: spring with its bright sunshine, summer with the boiling hot sun, autumn with cool breezes and winter with its white snow. Choose your favorite season and then come and enjoy it in Korea.

• Spring

In Korea, spring is normally between March and May.
In the early spring, there is a striking difference in daily temperature ranges, so you should keep a sweater or jacket handy.
Spring is at its height between April and May. During this time, you can enjoy the stunning sight of the mountains and hills covered with beautiful flowers. You can see festivals including flower exhibits since warm weather remains throughout the country.
Spring is characterized by a heat haze shimmering at midday and yellow dust clouds that often blow over to Korea from China. It is best to keep an umbrella with you because the spring rain accompanied by yellow dust can cause eye infections

• Summer

A hot and humid summer continues from June through August.
As the average temperature ranges between 22 and 26 degrees Celsius (72 and 79 F), it is not terribly hot meteorologically. However, due to the geographical features of Korea, you will feel very hot and humid. Therefore, we recommend that you wear cotton shirts which will absorb perspiration well and which have good ventilation.
The rainy season begins with a localized torrential downpour amounting to approximately 7.8 inches to 15.8 inches throughout the country between late June and mid July. When the rainy season is over, the real summer starts with temperatures climbing up to 34 degrees Celsius (93 F). A tropical night phenomenon where even the low temperature can be as high as 25 degrees Celsius (77 F) often occurs.
Most Koreans take vacation and enjoy the summer holidays for 3~7 days between late July and early August and hope to escape the hot weather. In late August when the sultry weather wanes, typhoons accompanied by strong winds and heavy rains often visit Korea. When the typhoon passes by, autumn is drawing near.

• Autumn

Between September and November is the most beautiful season in Korea.
In early autumn the sun blazes down at midday and a cool wind blows in the mornings and evenings. The daily temperature ranges are broad so it is necessary to keep a sweater or jacket handy like in early spring. Remember to take an umbrella with you when you go out because the rainstorms continue from late August to early September.
In the middle of September when the rainstorms come to an end, autumn in Korea displays the best scene with maple leaves tinged with red and golden colors harmonizing with the blue sky dotted with distinct clouds.
Koreans enjoy various festivals and traditional holidays including Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day) to celebrate the harvest time.

• Winter

Winter in Korea stays cold and dry from December to February.
Meteorologically, most regions have clear weather ranging from -5 to 9 degrees Celsius (23 to 48 F), but the effective temperature is much colder because of the cold winds blown from Siberia.
The winter weather differs depending on the region. The temperature goes down below the average temperatures in the mountain region of Gangwon-do, while Jeju-do hardly ever records sub-zero temperatures and instead continues to have warm weather.
In Korea, winter is a very interesting season. You can enjoy skiing and can wish for a white Christmas because more than 70% of the land is covered with mountains, and it often snows. Between December and January especially, many events such as a climbing and ski festivals are held in the snowcapped mountains.