신정 (Sinjeong)
Solar New Year’s Day, celebrated with sunrise viewing at the coast and the ringing of the Bosingak Bell in Seoul.
Shinjeong, the solar New Year on January 1, is an official holiday in South Korea. It is quieter at home than Seollal, the lunar New Year, but public celebrations focus on the exact turn of the year. In central Seoul, crowds gather near Bosingak Pavilion on the night of December 31 for the bell-ringing ceremony. At midnight, the great bell is struck 33 times, and the countdown is broadcast nationwide. People exchange 새해 복 많이 받으세요, a polite wish for many New Year blessings. After the ceremony, some head home while others stay out for the first hours of the new year, moving through packed streets toward late-night trains, buses, or sunrise gatherings.
On the morning of January 1, many people travel to the east coast for 해맞이, first-sunrise watching, because the sun appears there earliest over the sea. Well-known spots include Jeongdongjin in Gangneung, Gyeongpo Beach, and Homigot in Pohang, where people wait in the dark, wrapped against the winter wind, and cheer as the sun clears the horizon. Some make a silent wish at that moment. Families and friends then eat breakfast, sometimes including tteokguk, sliced rice-cake soup. Through the rest of the day, people visit cafés, send New Year messages, or rest at home before normal work resumes after the one-day holiday.
The pack has 36 words spread across these domains.
Same words in both. Beginner gets more help: matching and completing. Advanced listens and spells it out unaided. Pick it in practice; it locks when you take the scored run.
Practise as often as you like, all year. The scored run happens once, while the competition is open, and cannot be retaken.