Public holidays are welcomed by most people, as they provide them with a brief relief from their responsibilities, such as studies or work. They certainly seem harmless—even beneficial to many, as most workers still get paid as usual despite the day off. However, what most people tend to miss is that when there is a public holiday, necessary services still must continue to be operated, but under extremely tight conditions as the amount of clients surges despite the limited workforce and higher cost of operation. Korea currently has a total of 15 public holidays annually and is in the higher quartile among other OECD countries like Japan (16 days), US (11 days), UK (8 days). It must be noted that public holidays are usually divided into two types: the statutory public holidays, which have been gazetted by the government and are fixed, and temporary holidays, which are spontaneous holidays that are decided by the government on a case-by-case basis.

Since most public holidays are fixed, they allow in-advanced planning with more flexibility; however, temporary holidays are often dedicated for sudden events,  and their spontaneity has the potential to make situations worse. One may claim that since public holidays can help to stimulate the economy, they are greatly beneficial to the country. On one hand, this is true, as they provide opportunities for people to consume more in various ways, bringing enormous cash flow to various industries. People are encouraged to go on shopping sprees, have a luxurious date night, or even travel domestically, all of which can greatly contribute to the nation’s economy. According to research conducted by the Hyundai Research Institute in 2023 regarding temporary public holidays, a temporary public holiday can bring consumers’ expenses up to 2.4 trillion KRW and the total production volume can hit 4.8 trillion KRW. As such, the Korean government has announced temporary public holidays on multiple occasions, citing the need to revitalize the domestic economy as a major factor.

However, public holidays are not always benign to everyone. For example, during a public holiday, businesses like retailers will be burdened immensely due to the surge of customers. Furthermore, despite a potential leap in revenue, the cost of human resources will also inevitably rise. This is because during a public holiday, many employees are absent, and employers are required to pay increased wages to retain the necessary workforce. A temporary holiday may make the situation even worse, as it could be more difficult to secure sufficient resources within the limited planning time. Labor-intensive manufacturing industries are not an exception. The Korea Enterprises Federation has raised the concern that during temporary holidays, businesses can experience a decline in productivity and an increase in the labor cost. Therefore, the manufacturing industry may experience great losses due to the lack of labor, and consequent shutting down of factory operations.

It remains questionable whether the potential loss will outweigh the gain from the public holidays, as this is hardly to be quantified accurately due to the innumerable factors. Still, it must always be aware that the economic benefits of a public holiday are not simply complimentary. The Hyundai Research Institute mentioned that supportive measures should be taken to encourage domestic rather than international travel in order to maximize the effect of domestic demand stimulation when there is a long holiday. So, to fully enjoy the reward from public holidays and relieve stress from many economic sectors, related policies and actions should be pre-emptively prepared. Overall, currently available public holidays as well as the decision-making process for temporary holidays should continue to be revised so that the benefits can be fully maximized, and the potential losses—which can harm the economy and even the competency of the nation—can be minimized.