Seollal (설날): 세배, 떡국 and Korean New Year Greetings

Quick answer: The Korean New Year greeting is 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (saehae bok mani badeuseyo), which literally means "receive a lot of luck in the new year." You say it to almost anyone around 설날 (Seollal), the lunar new year, and to elders you say it right after 세배 — a deep kneeling bow. The food of the day is 떡국, rice cake soup, and eating a bowl is how you "gain" a year.

Here's the one idea to take away: in English, "Happy New Year" is a description of a wish. In Korean, the greeting is a transfer. 복 (luck, blessing, good fortune) is treated like a thing that can be handed over and received, and 받으세요 means please receive it. Once you see that, everything else about Seollal lines up — the bow, the money in the envelope, the elder's blessing words, even the soup.

The sentence, piece by piece

새해 복 많이 받으세요. Receive a lot of luck in the new year.

That's the full, safe, works-everywhere version (해요체 with the honorific -(으)시-). You can say it to your boss, your landlord, the café owner, your friend's parents. Three variations:

• 새해 복 많이 받으십시오. — The 합쇼체 version. Stiffer and more formal; used in speeches, formal emails, military and workplace settings.
• 새해 복 많이 받아. — 반말, for friends and people younger than you.
• 복 많이 받으세요. — Shortened. Common when you've already said the long version once, or when you're saying goodbye to a shopkeeper during the holiday.

The -(으)세요 here is not a command, even though it looks like one. It's a wish dressed in polite clothing — the same reason Koreans say 건강하세요 (be healthy) rather than "I hope you're healthy." If that ending still feels confusing, it's worth reading about why Korean adds -(으)시- to verbs.

The mistake to avoid

Learners often build "Happy New Year" word by word and arrive at 행복한 새해. Nobody says that. It isn't ungrammatical, it just sounds like a greeting card translated by a machine. Say 새해 복 많이 받으세요 and you sound like everyone else in the country, which on a holiday is exactly what you want.

How to answer when someone says it to you

You give it right back. With a peer or someone younger:

네, ○○ 씨도 새해 복 많이 받으세요. Yes, you too — receive a lot of luck in the new year.

With an elder, answer the blessing first, then return it in a softer shape:

감사합니다. 할머니도 건강하세요. Thank you. Grandma, please stay healthy.

To an older person, 건강하세요 (stay healthy) and 오래오래 건강하세요 (stay healthy for a long, long time) are warmer than repeating the same sentence back. Saying 새해 복 많이 받으세요 back to your grandmother is not wrong at all — but adding a health wish is what a Korean grandchild would actually do.

세배: the bow that carries the words

세배 is the formal New Year's bow that younger family members make to their elders on the morning of 설날, usually in neat clothes or 한복. It is a 큰절 — a full bow: you kneel, lower your head and hands to the floor, hold for a beat, then rise. Hands are folded in front, and by convention men place the left hand over the right, women the right over the left.

What you say around it:

할머니, 세배 받으세요. Grandma, please receive my New Year's bow.

Say that (or nothing at all), bow, and then — usually as you come back up — say 새해 복 많이 받으세요. The bow and the sentence are one gesture in two parts.

Talking about it afterwards:

아침에 할아버지께 세배를 드렸어요. I made a New Year's bow to my grandfather this morning.

Note 드리다, the humble form of 주다, and 께 instead of 한테 — both signal that the bow goes upward to someone older. That pair of choices is explained in more depth in 한테 vs 에게 vs 께.

And if you're a guest in a Korean home at Seollal: you are not obliged to do a full 큰절. A standing bow from the waist and a clear 새해 복 많이 받으세요 is perfectly welcome, and people will be delighted you said it in Korean at all.

덕담 and 세뱃돈: what comes back

After the bow, the elder gives 덕담 — words of blessing, tailored to the person. A student might hear:

올해는 공부 열심히 하고, 건강해라. Study hard this year, and stay healthy. (said downward, in 반말)

An unmarried adult, famously, hears about marriage. Then comes 세뱃돈, New Year's money, handed to children and young people in an envelope. The polite thing is to receive it with both hands and say 감사합니다. Afterwards everyone asks the same question:

세뱃돈 많이 받았어요? Did you get a lot of New Year's money?

Notice 받다 again. 복, 덕담, 세뱃돈 — the whole morning is structured around the younger person bowing and the older person giving.

떡국: the soup that ages you

떡국 is a clear broth with thin oval slices of rice cake. On 설날 every household eats it, and there's a saying everyone grows up with:

떡국 한 그릇 먹으면 한 살 더 먹어요. If you eat a bowl of tteokguk, you get one year older.

Korean uses 먹다 (eat) for age — 나이를 먹다, 한 살 더 먹다 — so the joke writes itself, and children make it every single year:

두 그릇 먹었으니까 두 살 먹는 거예요? I ate two bowls, so do I get two years older?

Around the holiday, "떡국 먹었어요?" works as small talk the way "did you eat?" does the rest of the year. It's asking did you have your New Year's morning properly, not literally checking your lunch.

The rest of the holiday looks a lot like Chuseok: the 설 연휴 runs about three days, highways fill up, many families hold 차례, a memorial rite for ancestors, and the kitchen runs for hours — the same all-hands family cooking energy you'll find in kimjang season.

When to say it — and when it's too late

You can start a few days early. Add 미리 (in advance):

미리 새해 복 많이 받으세요. Happy New Year in advance.

This is extremely common at the end of December and in the days before 설날, because you might not see that person again before the holiday. Afterwards, people keep saying it for the first week or two of the new year — the first time you see someone, it's the default opening line. Say it to a colleague in late February and you'll get a laugh.

One more useful line for messages:

새해에는 좋은 일만 가득하시길 바랍니다. I hope the new year is full of nothing but good things.

That one is written, not spoken — a text, a card, a message to a teacher or a client.

FAQ

What does 새해 복 많이 받으세요 mean in English?

Literally, "please receive a lot of luck in the new year." 복 means luck or blessing, 많이 means a lot, and 받으세요 is the polite honorific form of 받다, to receive. In use it simply means "Happy New Year," and it works for both January 1st and the lunar new year.

How do you reply to 새해 복 많이 받으세요?

Say it back. To a friend or colleague: 네, ○○ 씨도 새해 복 많이 받으세요. To someone much older, it's warmer to answer 감사합니다 and then add a health wish like 건강하세요 or 오래오래 건강하세요.

Do I have to do 세배 if I'm invited to a Korean home for Seollal?

No. 세배 is mainly a family ritual between younger relatives and their elders. As a guest, a respectful standing bow and a clear 새해 복 많이 받으세요 is completely appropriate. If the family does invite you to join, copy the person next to you — kneel, bow, rise, and say the greeting.

Practice

1. Your friend's grandmother opens the door on 설날 morning. What do you say?
2. A coworker says 새해 복 많이 받으세요 to you on December 30th. Reply, and add "in advance" to your own greeting.
3. Say to a close friend (반말): "Did you get a lot of New Year's money?"
4. Complete the saying: 떡국 한 그릇 먹으면 ______.
5. Say: "I made a New Year's bow to my grandfather." (use 께 and 드리다)

Answers

1. 새해 복 많이 받으세요. (A standing bow goes with it. 건강하세요 is a lovely thing to add.)

2. 네, 미리 새해 복 많이 받으세요.

3. 세뱃돈 많이 받았어?

4. 떡국 한 그릇 먹으면 한 살 더 먹어요.

5. 할아버지께 세배를 드렸어요.