What is 개천절 (The National Foundation Day of Korea)?

개천절

• The word 개천절 means “The day when the sky opened.”
• On BC 2333 October 3, Dangun established the nation in the Korean Peninsula: Gojoseon (고조선).
• 개천절 is a public holiday to commemorate the establishment of Gojoseon.

What Do People Do?

The national flag, Taegeukgi, is raised to celebrate the holiday. ????????

Taegeukgi is raised on the five national holidays :

1) National Foundation Day of Korea

2) Independence Movement Day

3) National Liberation Day

4) Constitution Day

5) Hangul Day (The Korean Alphabet Day)

How The Nation Was Found

There is an interesting legend related to how Dangun, the founder of Gojoseon, was born. Koreans call it “The Legend of Dangun” (단군신화)

A long time ago, Hwan-in, the king of heaven, sent Hwan-woong down to the earth for the goodness of all mankind.

1. There lived a tiger and a bear that begged Hwan-woong to turn them into humans. Hwan-woong gave them a handful of mugworts and 20 garlic and said they would become humans if they are able to eat all of the mugworts and
   garlic and don’t see the sunlight for 100 days.
2. A bear and a tiger went into the cave and tried really hard
   to follow Hwan-woong’s words. However, the tiger couldn’t endure it, so he ran out of the cave.
3. The bear, on the other hand, turned into a woman in 21 days. Hwan-woong named this woman, “Ung-nyeo.”
4. Hwan-woong transformed into a person and married Ung-nyeo. A baby boy was born and his name was “Dangun Wanggeom.”

Dangun, the son of Hwan-woong and Ung-neyo, found the first nation of the Korean Peninsula, Gojoseon, in BC 2333.