Gwangbokjeol(광복절)

The National Liberation Day of Korea
is a holiday celebrated annually
on August 15 in both
North and South Korea.

It commemorates
Victory over Japan Day,
when U.S. and Soviet forces ended
the decades-long Japanese occupation
of Korea. It is notable for being
the only Korean public holiday
celebrated by both North and
South Korea.

After the Korean Peninsula was
liberated by the Allies in 1945,
independent Korean governments were
created three years later,
on August 15, 1948,

when the pro-U.S. Syngman Rhee was
elected first President of South Korea
and pro-Soviet Kim Il-sung was
made first Leader of North Korea.

Gwangbokjeol was officially
designated a public holiday
on October 1, 1949 in South Korea
and is known as Chogukhaebangŭi nal
(조국해방의 날; literally
“Liberation of Fatherland Day”)
in North Korea.

from: Encyclopedia