Traffic Congestion Begins on the First Day of Chuseok Holiday Return Trip... "Expected to Be Most Crowded Around Noon"

As of 9 AM, travel times from Seoul to Busan 5 hours 10 minutes, Daegu 4 hours 10 minutes, Gwangju 3 hours 40 minutes expected

On the afternoon of the 17th, one day before the Chuseok holiday, vehicles heading home on the Seohaean Expressway Seohae Bridge were moving slowly, as seen from a police helicopter inspecting the homecoming traffic. (Aerial photography cooperation: Sergeant Mun Heung-ju and Inspector Shim Dong-guk, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Aviation Unit) / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] As the Chuseok holiday begins on the 18th, traffic congestion is occurring mainly in the direction of returning home on highways nationwide from the morning.

According to Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 8:10 a.m. on this day, on the Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Busan, vehicles are unable to speed up over approximately 40 km, including 4 km from Hannam to Seocho, 13 km from Giheung Dongtan to Namsa, 22 km near Manghyang Rest Area to near Oksan Junction, and 2 km from Daejeon Tunnel to Biryong Junction. On the Seohaean Expressway heading toward Mokpo, vehicles are repeatedly stopping and going over a total of 24 km, including 10 km near Maesong Rest Area to Paltan Junction and 10 km near Seopyeongtaek Junction to Seohae Bridge.

On the Yeongdong Expressway toward Gangneung, vehicles are moving slowly over 10 km from Singal Junction to Yongin and 6 km near Yongin to Yangji Tunnel. On the Jungbu Expressway heading toward Nami, congestion is occurring over a total of 27 km, including 5 km from Hanam to Sangok Junction, 6 km near Jungbu 3 Tunnel to Gyeonggi Gwangju Junction, 6 km from Majang Junction to Moga, 7 km from Daeso Junction to Jincheon, and 3 km near Jincheon Tunnel.

The Expressway Corporation expects 440,000 vehicles to move from the metropolitan area to local areas and 380,000 vehicles from local areas to the metropolitan area on this day. Nationwide traffic volume is forecasted to be 4.77 million vehicles.

The estimated travel times departing from Seoul Tollgate at 9 a.m. are ▲Busan 5 hours 10 minutes ▲Ulsan 4 hours 50 minutes ▲Daegu 4 hours 10 minutes ▲Gwangju 3 hours 40 minutes ▲Daejeon 2 hours 10 minutes ▲Gangneung 2 hours 40 minutes. Congestion in the direction of returning home is expected to start around 7 a.m. and peak between noon and 1 p.m. The congestion in the direction of returning home is expected to clear around 8 to 9 p.m. The return direction is expected to be most congested between 4 and 5 p.m. and to ease between 7 and 8 p.m.