Cool temperatures postponing cherry blossoms, festivals in South Korea

(Photo courtesy of Korea Tourism Organization)

If you’ve been counting down the days to the appearance of cherry blossoms in South Korea, you may have to wait a little bit longer.

Originally, the nationally recognized forecast company Weather I, forecasted cherry blossoms in the southern areas like Jeju Island, Busan and Jinhae for the weekend of March 23. However, the cold temperatures are not warming up and there are no signs yet of blooms anywhere.

Due to the delay, some Korean cities are postponing cherry blossom festivities. Gyeongju City’s festival at the Daereungwon Stone Wall Trail will now be held from Sat., Mar. 30 to Sun., Mar. 31.

Others, like the Jinhae Naval Port Festival (Gunhangje-군항제) and the Jeju Jeonnong-ro Road Cherry Blossom Festival (제주 전농로 벚꽃축제), will go on as planned despite the cherry blossomless trees.

If you plan to head out for cherry blossom viewing, you may want to wait about a week. Once the blossoms arrive, you’ll know they were worth the wait!