The study interviewed 102 North Korean defectors residing in South Korea after completing the Hanawon program through face-to-face interviews. The most celebrated holiday in South Korea was found to be Seollal at 65.7%, followed by Chuseok at 23.2%, Christmas at 7.8%, and Hansik at 1%. With respect to the question of wheather or not North Korea creates a more festive mood compared to South Korea, 33.3% of respondents answered that they felt similar in both countries 2.6% said "yes", they were in a more festive mood in North Korea, whereas 21.6% said "no", and 18.6% said they felt "very different". The most representative traditional food was ranked in the order of rice dishes with kimchi (19.6%), rice cake (11.8%) and boiled rice (8.9%) on National Liberation Day of Korea; rice dishes (17.6%), rice cake (7.8%) and boiled rice (4.9%) on North Korea Constitution Day; and rice cake (57.8%), noodles (9.8%), dumplings (9.8%) and boiled rice (8.8%) on Lunar New Year's Day. In regard to positive recognition about festival foods, "festival food of South Korea has diverse recipes" showed the highest positively in South Korea. The respondents positively recognized that festival foods of North Korea are not sweet, have a unique taste are traditional and have a table setting.