South Korean expressways congested as people return after Chuseok — Korea Herald

In South Korea, traffic jams formed on major roads and expressways on Saturday, the third day of the Chuseok holiday, as people began returning home after trips to their hometowns.

Long trips to the capital

As of 9:00 a.m., the journey from Busan to Seoul was expected to take about seven hours, from Mokpo six hours and 40 minutes, from Daegu six hours, and from Gwangju five hours and 20 minutes. These estimates were provided by the Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Herald reports.

The trip from Seoul to Busan was forecast to take five hours and 10 minutes, to Daegu four hours and 10 minutes, and to Gwangju three hours and 20 minutes. Expressways heading toward Seoul began to fill up early in the morning, while traffic in the opposite direction eased somewhat.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Millions of cars on the roads

The state-owned company expected the heaviest congestion between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., with traffic expected to ease between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. on Sunday. Overall, an estimated 5.9 million vehicles were expected to travel on the country's roads on Saturday. About 380,000 cars were expected to leave the Greater Seoul area, while another 520,000 were expected to head to the capital region from other parts of the country.

Chuseok is a Korean holiday during which people visit their hometowns, gather with their families, perform rites in honor of their ancestors, and prepare traditional dishes. This year, the holiday period lasted from Thursday to Sunday.