Oct. 3rd-"Korean Foundation Day"

KOREAN HOLIDAYS
Solar
New Year's-January 1st and 2nd
Independence Movement Day- March 1
Arbor Day- April 5
Children's Day- May 5
Memorial Day- June 6
Constitution Day- July 17
Liberation Day- August 15
Foundation Day- October 3
Christmas Day-December 25
Lunar
New Year's (Seol-nal)- 1st day of 1st month, plus the day before
and after (Feb 9-10 in 2005)
Buddha's Birthday (Seokka Tanshin-il)- 8th day of 4th month
(May 15 in 2005)
Harvest Moon Festival (Chuesok)- 14-16th days of 8th month
(Sep. 17-19 in 2005)

National Foundation Day
According to legend, the god-king Tan-gun founded the Choson Kingdom in 2333 B.C. This day fills citizens with nationalistic pride over the 4,000+ year history of Korea.
KOREAN FOUNDATION MYTH
All nations have a historic past, and many also have foundation myths. Buried deep in the subconscious memory of descendants of Asiatic tribes that moved into southern Manchurua and the Korean Peninsula lies the myth of Tan'gun. Hwanin, the heavenly king, had a son, Hwanung, who wished to live on earth among men. Accompanied by 3,000 followers, Hwanung descended from heaven and appeared under a sandlewood tree on Myohyong-san in North Korea. he ruled over the people that he found there, teaching them agriculture, arts and social behavior.
There was a bear and tiger in this land who wished to become human. They prayed fervently to Hwanung to fulfill their wish, and he looked favorable upon them. Giving each 20 cloves of garlic and a bunch of mugwort, he told them to take only that nourishment and to stay out of the sun for 100 days. They retired to a cave and took the food. Because of growing impatience and hunger, the tiger left the cave. The bear, however, endured and was turned into a woman. Happy with the fulfillment of her wish, she prayed under the sandlewood tree to become a mother. Hwanung gladly obliged, and the bear-woman bore Tan'gun, The Sandlewood King. Tan'gun became the first human king of the people of the peninsula, establishing his capital at Wanggom (P'yongyang) in 2333 B.C. and calling his kingdom Choson meaning morning calm or morning freshness. He later moved his capital to Asadal, where he ruled until 1122 B.C. In that year, Tan'gul took on a spiritual form and a second legendary ruler, Kija, took his place.
Undoubtly of shamanistic origin, this myth is similar to the bear myths and cults of Ainu in Hokkaido and the people of central Asia. While no one takes it as historical fact, the myth of Tan'gun is still told to foster Korean nationalism.
(Source: Moon Handbooks. South Korea. Robert Nilson)