The songnyeonhoe (송년회) is Korea’s office year end party, and in Seoul it turns December into the busiest stretch of the events calendar. Companies, teams and alumni groups all want a room, a dinner and something good to happen after the dinner, and most of them want it on the same four or five Fridays.
That crunch shapes everything else. The parties that go well are planned early, with the night mapped out before anyone picks a single song. What follows is the checklist we’d hand anyone organising one: the order to do things in, the questions to ask the venue, and the small details that decide whether people leave talking about the night or about the last train. If you’re weighing up a DJ in particular, our guide to hiring a DJ for a 송년회 goes deeper on that side.
한국어 요약
회사 송년회, 이렇게 준비하세요
서울에서 회사 송년회를 준비하는 담당자를 위한 체크리스트입니다. 날짜, 장소, 진행 순서, 음악, 귀가까지 순서대로 정리했습니다.
- 날짜 먼저: 12월 금요일과 토요일은 장소, DJ, MC, 음향팀이 가장 먼저 마감됩니다. 예산이 정해지면 날짜부터 잡으세요. 평일 저녁은 선택의 폭이 훨씬 넓습니다.
- 장소 확인: 음량 제한, 음악 종료 시간, 설치 가능 시간, 그리고 DJ가 연결할 수 있는 음향 시스템인지 계약 전에 확인하세요.
- 진행 순서: 식사, 대표 인사와 시상, 건배사, 경품 추첨, 그리고 댄스 타임으로 넘어가는 순간까지 미리 계획하세요.
- 마이크 담당: 누가 순서를 진행할지 정하고, 외국인 직원이나 손님이 있다면 한국어와 영어 진행을 준비하세요.
- 음악: 신입부터 임원까지 함께 즐길 수 있도록 식사 중에는 익숙한 곡, 이후에는 90년대와 2000년대 가요, 디스코, 캐럴로 천천히 분위기를 올립니다.
- 귀가: 막차 시간을 확인한 뒤 종료 시간을 정하세요. 연말에는 택시 잡기가 어렵고 심야 할증도 붙습니다.
연말 날짜는 빠르게 마감되니 서둘러 문의해 주세요.
잘못된 정보나 바뀐 날짜를 발견하셨나요? 연락 주시면 확인 후 바로 고치겠습니다. 현장에서 보고 들은 이야기도 언제나 환영합니다.
The checklist in five steps
Lock the Date, Then Send One Clear Email
December weekends go first. Hotel ballrooms, restaurant buyouts and private party rooms start filling at the end of October, and the DJs, MCs and sound teams who do this work well get booked by the same companies year after year. By the time most organisers start asking around in late November, the choice is whatever’s left.
When 송년회 dates fill up
If your team can be flexible, a weeknight is the easiest win. A Tuesday or Wednesday 송년회 gets more rooms, more choice of people and more relaxed vendors. If it has to be a Friday, hold the date with the venue and your entertainment as soon as the budget is approved, even if the details come later. A held date with a few open questions beats a perfect plan with nowhere to put it.
Whether you’re writing to a venue, a DJ or an MC, the same details get you a fast, accurate answer: the date and a backup date, the venue or area you’re considering, the number of guests, start and end times, the language mix in the room, what the venue already provides, and what the night should feel like by the end. One honest line about the crowd does more than a long list of genres. If you want to know what moves the price, our guide to what decides the cost of a DJ breaks it down.
Choose a Room That’s Allowed to Be a Party
Most 송년회 rooms in Seoul are one of four things: a hotel ballroom, a restaurant or bar buyout, a rented event space or rooftop, or a lounge booked for a private night. Each has its own idea of how loud the night can get. Before you sign, ask about the volume limit, the time the music has to stop, when vendors can get in to set up, and whether a DJ can plug into the room’s sound system.
Ask the venue before you sign
Those answers matter more than the decor. A beautiful restaurant with a hard 10pm music cutoff and ceiling speakers meant for background jazz isn’t a dance floor, however good the playlist. Winter rooftops look great in photos and feel cold in practice, so ask about heaters, cover and where the gear stays dry.
Map the Night in Phases
Every good 송년회 has the same bones, whatever the size. There’s arrival and dinner, when music sits under the conversation. There’s the formal part: the speech from the CEO or team lead, awards, the geonbaesa (건배사), the toast someone always gets volunteered for, and often a lucky draw. Then there’s the turn, the moment the room decides whether it’s going home or staying to dance. And there’s the ending, which is either planned or a mess.
A sample running order
Write those phases down with rough times before you talk to anyone about music. The turn is the part most organisers forget to plan, and it’s where the night is won or lost. If the lucky draw ends and the lights stay bright while staff clear tables for twenty minutes, half the room reaches for their coats. If the music lifts straight out of the last prize, the lights drop and the floor is already open, people stay.
Put One Person on the Mic, and Play to Every Generation
Speeches, toasts and prizes need one person running them, and that person needs to be talking to whoever controls the music. At smaller parties that’s often the DJ. At bigger ones there’s an MC, sometimes two if the room is Korean and English. Agree before the night who calls each segment, how many wireless microphones you need, and who has the final say on timing when the CEO’s speech runs long. It always runs long.
If your room is mixed, Korean staff with international colleagues or clients, settle the language question up front. A bilingual MC, or a DJ who can carry announcements in both languages, keeps half the room from drifting off during the formal part. Our piece on corporate events in Seoul goes deeper into running a mixed room.
Then the music. A company party isn’t a club night: in a club, people chose the music by choosing the club, and at a 송년회 nobody did. The room might run from people in their early twenties to senior management, Korean pop fans next to people who only know the Christmas songs, and the job is finding what they share. In practice that means familiar songs during dinner, nothing that fights the conversation, then a slow build once the formal part is over. Korean pop throwbacks from the 1990s and 2000s, disco and Motown, and a few Christmas songs used with restraint tend to bring the generations onto the same floor. Send whoever’s playing a short list of songs the boss loves and a do not play list. Both get used.
Sound and Gear: The Quiet Checklist
Most technical problems at a 송년회 come from things nobody asked about. Check whether the sound system runs on its own power circuit or shares one with the kitchen. Know where the speakers will go, and make sure they won’t block the stage or the exits. Get at least two wireless microphones plus a spare, with fresh batteries.
Tick these off before the night
Ask for an input for any video or slideshow, and test it before guests arrive. Agree the volume for dinner and the volume for dancing in advance, so nobody is arguing with the venue manager at 9:30.
Not Everyone Wants a Late Night
The 송년회 is changing, and it’s worth planning for the room you have rather than the one you remember. In an Incruit survey of 888 office workers reported in December 2025, 69.7% said their workplace was planning a year end gathering, but only 58.8% said these gatherings are necessary. The split runs by age: fewer than half of workers in their twenties see the point, against more than two thirds of those over fifty.
Year End Parties Split the Office by Age
Share of office workers who say year end gatherings are necessary
연말 모임이 필요하다는 직장인 비율, 연령대별
Plan for itAmong workplaces holding one, 69.8% said attendance was optional. Younger staff leaned toward daytime gatherings or a meal without drinks, while workers in their forties and fifties preferred evenings.
Of those who said the gatherings weren’t necessary, 52.2% said they cut into personal time.
None of that argues against a party. It argues for a shorter, better planned one: an end time people can trust, a floor that gives the room something to do besides another round, and no pressure on the people who head home after dinner. A good 송년회 is one people choose to stay at.
Plan How Everyone Gets Home
Late December nights in Seoul run into the last train problem fast. The subway stops not long after midnight, and on the busiest nights of the year taxis near the big districts are hard to find. Seoul’s taxi surcharge has run from 10pm to 4am since December 2022, rising to 40% between 11pm and 2am, so a midnight finish costs your team more than an 11pm one. If your party ends at 11, people relax. If it ends at midnight with no plan, a third of your team will slip out at 11:20 anyway.
Seoul’s Year End Late Night Plan
What the city added for December 2025, and what a late taxi costs
2025년 서울시 연말 심야 교통 대책
| When | What changed |
|---|---|
| Thursday and Friday nights | About 1,000 extra late night taxis, for around 24,000 on the road |
| 12, 18, 19 and 24 December | Temporary taxi stands in four areas, including Gangnam and Jongno |
| 15 to 31 December | Last buses until 1am at 11 major stops, on 87 routes |
| 17 to 31 December | 28 more Owl late night buses, 168 in all |
| Every night, 10pm to 4am | Taxi surcharge of 20%, or 40% from 11pm to 2am |
The ruleEven with extra buses and taxis, the last train still decides your end time. Check the city’s plan again each December.
The city adds capacity at this time of year, about 1,000 extra late night taxis and longer bus hours in December 2025. That helps. It doesn’t replace a plan.
Check the last trains from your venue before you set an end time. Our Getting Home Planner shows last trains and night buses for the main districts. Put the end time and the nearest station in the invitation, and if the budget allows, arrange taxis or a shuttle for the people who live furthest out.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should we start planning a company 송년회 in Seoul?
Start in October if you can, and hold the date by early November at the latest. December Fridays and Saturdays are the first dates to go for venues, DJs, MCs and sound teams. Weeknights leave more choice later in the season.
How long should a 송년회 run?
Most run three to four hours. That’s long enough for dinner, the formal part and an hour or more of dancing, and short enough that people can still catch the last train home.
Do we need a DJ, or will a playlist do?
A playlist can carry dinner. It can’t run the speeches, adjust when the lucky draw runs late or read when the room is ready to dance. Our guide to hiring a DJ for a 송년회 covers what a DJ adds.
What’s a 건배사 (geonbaesa)?
A 건배사 is the short toast given before everyone drinks together, usually by a senior person or whoever the room volunteers. At a 송년회 it’s often a call and response, and it deserves a moment of quiet and a microphone that works.
Further Reading on The DJ Diaries
- Hiring a DJ for a 송년회 in Seoul
- Corporate Event DJs in Seoul
- What Decides the Cost of a DJ in Seoul
- The Getting Home Planner
Sources
Seoul Shinmun, 서울시, 심야 택시 1000대·버스 막차 늘린다, 연말 교통 대책 가동, 3 December 2025
Newsis, 서울 택시 심야할증 조정과 기본요금 인상 심의, October 2022
If you’re planning one this December and want a second pair of eyes on the running order, we’re happy to help with the date, the room and the music.
Written from Seoul, by someone who has been in the booth for more than twenty years. More on the site, or book a DJ.
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