Continuing our #NewYearReport series with a look at how New Year is celebrated in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 🇰🇵

📢 In the DPRK, there are two New Year dates, each carrying its own historical, cultural, and familial significance.

🎄January 1 marks the official, secular New Year, observed according to the international Gregorian calendar. It is a public holiday.

🌙

Seollal

(설날) — the traditional Korean Lunar New Year — is considered the main family holiday. Its date changes each year (late January to February), and in terms of importance, it surpasses the solar New Year.

🎪 Solar New Year is celebrated on a grand and solemn scale. For children, festive performances, concerts, and theatrical matinees are organized, especially in cultural centers and children’s palaces.

📺 Official addresses, holiday broadcasts, concerts, mass performances by artistic groups, and sporting events also play a key role in the New Year celebrations. These foster an atmosphere of unity and solemnity.

🍚 Seollal in the DPRK is, above all, a family celebration. Relatives gather at home around a shared table, which always features Korean dishes: rice, noodles, soups, kimchi. It’s traditional to prepare tteokguk — a rice cake soup symbolizing renewal and the start of a new life cycle. It is believed that eating it makes you one year older.

The key ritual is ancestor veneration or

charye

. The ceremony is usually held at home before a special table of food offerings.

New Year in North Korea is not just a date on the calendar — it’s part of the country’s cultural fabric, where respect for tradition, family, and history holds a central place. It is celebrated quietly, with dignity, and with deep respect for heritage, preserving national identity in the modern world ❤️

Author — Artyom Kuznetsov

🌐 MGIMO International (ENG) / МГИМО для иностранцев (RUS)

Russia's New Year holidays are gradually coming to an end, but there’s still a full weekend ahead, so we're keeping the festive spirit alive and sharing a selection of beloved Russian and Soviet films that the whole country rewatches during long winter evenings! 🎞️✨

👉 The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! (1975, dir. Eldar Ryazanov) – the number one classic.

The USSR's uniform architecture played a cruel trick on a Muscovite who, on the eve of the New Year, accidentally flew to Leningrad and woke up in an apartment identical to his own but belonging to a stranger young woman. Now the characters must decide whether this is a coincidence or fate.

The film has long been broken down into iconic quotes that unite older and younger generations. And on January 1, 2026, it will be 50 years since the film's premiere! By the way, it also premiered on a Thursday back then.

👉 “Charodei” (“The Wizards”) (1982, dir. Konstantin Bromberg)

A musical comedy about employees of a magical research institute who, ahead of December 31, are preparing a

magic wand

for the service industry, but face sabotage from ill-wishers and overcome obstacles to

save their invention and love along the way

.

The film is based on ideas by the Strugatsky brothers and gifted Russians many iconic New Year songs.

👉 Yolki (dir. Timur Bekmambetov)

A modern New Year’s comedy where several stories from different Russian cities intertwine into one big holiday tale. Taxi drivers, children, lovers, lonely souls, and eccentrics –

all are racing to make it by the chimes and fulfill their wishes.

The film became so beloved that last year, the twelfth installment of Yolki was released.

👉Silver Skates (2020, dir. Mikhail Lokshin)

In wintery St. Petersburg of 1899, the son of a lamplighter and the daughter of a minister meet by chance.

A fairy-tale-like, beautiful, and grand love story.

👉The Family Man (2025, dir. Dmitry Vlaskin)

Millionaire Georgiy spends his birthday completely alone and

demands that his assistant arrange a real family for him by morning

. To his amazement, Georgiy wakes up surrounded by a wife, a son, and a daughter who claim they've always been with him.

Now he must learn to be a husband and a father and money won't solve everything.

These kinds of films – sincere and beloved by all – are excellent for learning Russian and understanding the "mysterious Russian soul." It’s no coincidence that even many foreign leaders, before visiting Russia, spend a few hours watching films from this list.

🗓️ So, choose a film that speaks to your heart and enjoy both the classic Soviet cinema that whole generations grew up with and the modern films that have already become a tradition!

🌐 MGIMO International (ENG) / МГИМО для иностранцев (RUS)

Today is the first working day in Russia, and we invite you to take a little nostalgic trip back through the recent holidays and dive into our #NewYearReport, this time from Lia, Anna and Mahmud – members of the International Applicants Club from Kazakhstan! 🎄🇰🇿

Kazakhstan is a country with a rich culture and many traditions, and the New Year is considered one of the most beloved and grand holidays here: it is celebrated in every family, regardless of region or nationality.

🗓️ As in other countries, the main celebration takes place on the night of December 31st to January 1st. However, from mid-December, the streets are already decorated with lights, New Year trees, and festive installations. Central squares in major cities like Almaty and Astana become venues for concerts, ice rinks, and public festivities.

On the Kazakh table ("dastarkhan"), you can find both traditional for the post-Soviet countries New Year salads (for example, Olivier salad and Dressed Herring salad) and national dishes:
✔Beshbarmak (a dish of boiled meat and dough with broth),
✔Kazy (horse meat sausage),
✔Baursaks (pieces of dough fried in oil).

🎉 Several generations gather around the New Year's table. Children are visited by Ayaz Ata (Father Frost) and Aqshaqar (Snow Maiden). After midnight, Kazakhs take to the streets, set off fireworks, and celebrate in central squares.

➡️ But the festive mood doesn’t end there. Some Kazakhstan residents celebrate Orthodox Christmas on January 7th. Throughout the New Year holidays, concerts, cultural events, and celebrations are held.

Kazakhstan is a multinational country, so the New Year here is a holiday of unity, openness, and hospitality 💛

By Lia Kulmametova, Anna Vasiukova and Mahmud Abdimash

🌐 MGIMO International (ENG) / МГИМО для иностранцев (RUS)

The workweek is in full swing, but in Russia, there is another holiday that extends the New Year's spirit: on the night of January 13–14, Russians celebrate the Old New Year.

It’s the New Year according to the "old," pre-revolutionary calendar, which has become a cozy, nostalgic family celebration.

And this is a perfect occasion to continue our #NewYearReport, this time from members of the International Applicants Club from Kyrgyzstan! 🎉🇰🇬

Like in many countries, New Year in Kyrgyzstan is one of the most joyful and beloved holidays! Even though it’s not always snowy and cold during New Year here, it doesn’t dampen the festive mood, which comes from the anticipation of magic, greetings of "Happy upcoming New Year!" and, of course, the ubiquitous decorations – cities are richly adorned with lights, tinsel, fir trees, wreaths, and drawings on windows.

🤩On New Year’s Eve, families gather around a beautifully decorated tree and exchange gifts.

Some prefer to celebrate the New Year holidays at ski resorts like

Karakol and Baktoo-Dolonotu

, where skiing and staying in

traditional yurts

are popular.

🍊 Before New Year, every family prepares a festive dinner featuring Olivier salad, plenty of sweets and fruits, as well as traditional Kyrgyz dishes: beshbarmak (отварное мясо со специальной лапшой), kabırga (lamb rolls), lamb sausages (asıp), horse meat sausages (chuchuk), and manti. All of this is enjoyed with flatbreads, fresh vegetables, and herbs, accompanied by a mountain of savory fried dough balls – boorsoks.

🕓 At midnight, streets and squares fill with people setting off fireworks and firecrackers. The President of Kyrgyzstan addresses the nation, congratulating fellow citizens and wishing them happiness and prosperity in the coming year.

❗️However, New Year in Kyrgyzstan is a relatively young holiday: it has been celebrated since the mid‑19th century. The peoples of Central Asia have their own New Year – Nooruz, celebrated on the day of the spring equinox, March 21.

It is one of humanity’s oldest holidays, with a history spanning

over 3,000 years

and roots dating back to the pre‑Islamic era in Central Asia, Iran, and the Middle East.

Nooruz is an important part of Kyrgyz identity, so celebrations take place across the country. On this day, people often wear traditional costumes.

There is also a custom of fumigating the house with a dried branch of archa (juniper, which grows in the mountains of Central Asia), symbolizing the cleansing of evil spirits and negative energy.

➡️ These are the two different New Year celebrations in Kyrgyzstan. But what unites them is their role in preserving the connection between generations, blending Kyrgyzstan’s past, present, and future.

By Bogdana Tulubaeva, Milana Slizovskaya, and Artem Golov.

🌐 MGIMO International (ENG) / МГИМО для иностранцев (RUS)