7 Ways Koreans Make a Wish — Sunrise, Lanterns, Paper Wishes and Love Locks
People everywhere make wishes, but how they do it varies from place to place. Here are seven Korean wishing customs, some centuries old and some quite recent. Pick one you like for this year's wish.
1. New Year's sunrise (haemaji)
Before dawn on 1 January, people head to the sea or a mountaintop to watch the first sunrise of the year and make a wish. East coast spots where the sun rises early, such as Jeongdongjin in Gangneung, Homigot in Pohang and Ganjeolgot in Ulsan, draw huge crowds every year. Watching a red sun lift out of the dark together has become, for many, the ritual that starts the year. Dawn by the sea is far colder than you'd expect, so wrap up warm.
2. Greeting the first full moon (Daeboreum)
On the 15th day of the first lunar month, people wish on the year's first full moon as it rises. Whoever saw it first was said to have the luckiest year, so people climbed hills to wait for it, alongside customs like cracking nuts and eating five-grain rice. Read more in Jeongwol Daeboreum: wishing on the first full moon.
3. Paper wishes on the moon-house bonfire
On Daeboreum night, villagers light a large "moon house" (daljip) they've built together. People write wishes on mulberry paper (sowonji), tie them to the structure and watch their hopes rise with the flames. Many local festivals still hold daljip burnings where you can write and tie your own wish. The act of writing a wish by hand and tying it on is itself a way of steadying your resolve.
4. Lotus lanterns for Buddha's Birthday
As Buddha's Birthday (the 8th day of the fourth lunar month) approaches, temples and streets across the country fill with colourful lanterns. Lanterns symbolise wisdom lighting up the dark, and people attach tags bearing their family's names and wishes. Seoul's Lotus Lantern Festival, Yeondeunghoe, is inscribed on UNESCO's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Many people, religious or not, make a wish as they watch the lantern parade.
5. Stacking stones
Adding a small stone to a cairn on a mountain path or in a temple yard while making a wish is a custom that began with the stone mounds at village shrines and can still be seen on trails everywhere. The golden rule: never knock down someone else's stack. Learn more in Why Koreans make wishes on stone cairns.
6. Tossing coins
Tossing a coin into a temple pond, onto a small stone turtle or into a well is a common sight, and many places have a story that your wish comes true if the coin lands in a particular spot. The coins are usually collected by the temple or site managers and often go to good causes. Some heritage sites and protected areas ask visitors not to throw coins, so check first.
7. Love locks
Around the observation deck of N Seoul Tower on Namsan, thousands of padlocks hang inscribed with the names and wishes of couples, families and friends. Locking one and throwing away the key means the bond will never come undone. It's a fairly recent custom but has become one of Seoul's best-known wishing spots. Please put the key in the collection box rather than throwing it anywhere.
A note on sky lanterns
Releasing flying sky lanterns looks beautiful in photos, but fallen lanterns have caused wildfires and serious blazes, so in Korea they should only be released at authorised events. If a festival offers them, follow the organisers' instructions carefully.
What these customs share
Waiting for the sun or moon, adding a stone, tying a paper wish: the methods differ, but they have two things in common. They put the wish into something you can see, and they share that moment with other people. A wish you only hold in your head becomes clearer once you place it in something and set it down. And seeing others who left their wishes in the same place reminds you that you're not the only one trying.
Wishing Stone Cairn lets you do both online. Put your wish into a stone, add it to everyone's cairn, and read and cheer on other people's wishes. On a New Year's morning when you couldn't make it to the coast, or a night when clouds hide the full moon, add a stone.