Summer Travel in Korea: When is the Best Time to Visit?

My body still has a sense of the seasons

After living in Sydney, located in the Southern Hemisphere, and returning to Korea, I felt like I might lose my sense of the seasons, but my body still remembers them.

Come to think of it, I think I was always confused about the seasons in Sydney.

For example, Chuseok, one of Korea's major holidays, usually falls between mid-September and mid-October,

(FYI, traditional Korean holidays are celebrated according to the lunar calendar, so the dates change every year)

During that time, Sydney also experiences early spring weather, which is very similar to Korea's early autumn weather, so I often mistakenly thought that the upcoming season was winter.

When my Australian friends wanted to visit Korea, which is experiencing the opposite summer season during their cold winter, and asked me when the best time to visit would be, I decided to organize my thoughts and write them down.

Hot and Humid Summer Weather

First, Korean summers are hot and humid.

The basic understanding is that it's easy for the discomfort index to rise.

The period from late June to mid-July is the rainy season.

And from late July to early September, there's a very high possibility of typhoons.

In the past, even during the rainy season, the rain used to be gentle, like a soft shower,

but nowadays, the forecasts aren't always accurate, and when it rains, it pours like a downpour, similar to what you'd see in Southeast Asia.

I guess it's one of the climate change phenomena ㅜ.ㅠ

Once the rainy season ends after mid-July, the real summer heatwave period, also known as Sambok, begins -.-

Jeollanam-do, where I live, is a warm region.

These days, the highest temperature averages around 33-35 degrees Celsius, and even at night, it's around 25-26 degrees Celsius, so we experience tropical nights and have to keep the air conditioner on all day.

In Summary,

When my friends ask me about the best time to visit Korea during the summer, I advise them to 'come in autumn after September if possible.'

From late June to late August, you're basically guaranteed to get either the rainy season or a heatwave.

**However, if your plan is to 'just spend time at the beach', then mid-July to mid-August would be good.**

**Each beach has lifeguards on duty, and there are many festivals that are only held in the summer.**

After writing all this... Korean summer weather is quite dynamic.

Today, August 2nd, 2024, it's hot but sunny, so the laundry dries super fast, which is great.

If you're visiting Korea during the summer, be sure to check the weather :)