According to the Korea Expressway Corp., estimated travel time to the Seoul tollgate as of 1 p.m. was seven hours and 50 minutes from Busan, seven hours and 30 minutes from Ulsan, six hours and 50 minutes from Mokpo and Daegu, six hours and 30 minutes from Gwangju, five hours from Gangneung and three hours and 30 minutes from Daejeon.
Travel times toward Seoul had increased by between 50 minutes and one and a half hours compared with 9 a.m. as return traffic picked up across the country.
Traffic heading away from the capital remained relatively lighter. Travel from Seoul was estimated at five hours and 30 minutes to Busan, five hours and 10 minutes to Ulsan, four hours and 30 minutes to Daegu, three hours and 40 minutes to Mokpo, three hours and 20 minutes to Gwangju and two hours and 50 minutes to Gangneung.
Heavy traffic was reported on several major highways toward Seoul, including the Gyeongbu, Seohaean and Jungbu Naeryuk expressways, with long stretches of slow-moving traffic near cities including Cheongju and Chungju.
The expressway operator expects return traffic toward Seoul to peak between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. before easing around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday. Traffic heading out of the Seoul metropolitan area is expected to ease between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
About 5.9 million vehicles are expected to use roads nationwide Saturday. Around 380,000 vehicles are projected to leave the Seoul metropolitan area, while 520,000 are expected to travel toward it.
Congestion also began spreading to major roads inside Seoul in the afternoon. Sections of Gangbyeonbuk-ro and Olympic-daero were experiencing slow traffic as more vehicles entered the capital.
AJP Takeaways
- Chuseok return traffic worsened Saturday, pushing the Busan-to-Seoul trip to seven hours and 50 minutes by 1 p.m.
- Travel times toward Seoul increased by up to 1½ hours from the morning as more holiday travelers headed home.
- Return traffic is expected to peak between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. and ease early Sunday.
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