As travelers return home on the last day of the Chuseok holiday, traffic congestion is intensifying on major highways heading to Seoul. The estimated travel time from Busan to Seoul has increased to six hours, with peak congestion expected between 4 and 5 PM.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 2 PM, the estimated travel times from major cities to the Seoul tollgate are as follows: 6 hours and 10 minutes from Busan, 5 hours and 50 minutes from Ulsan, 4 hours and 40 minutes from Mokpo, 5 hours and 10 minutes from Daegu, 4 hours and 20 minutes from Gwangju, 3 hours and 10 minutes from Gangneung, and 2 hours and 30 minutes from Daejeon.
As vehicles returning to Seoul began to pile up, travel times increased by 20 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes compared to around 9 AM.
The Korea Expressway Corporation forecasts that congestion will start around 10-11 AM, peak at 4-5 PM, and begin to ease around 10-11 PM.
In contrast, travel times from Seoul to various cities are as follows: 4 hours and 30 minutes to Busan, 4 hours and 10 minutes to Ulsan, 3 hours and 30 minutes to Daegu, 3 hours and 40 minutes to Mokpo, 2 hours and 40 minutes to Gangneung, 3 hours and 20 minutes to Gwangju, and 1 hour and 50 minutes to Daejeon, indicating that outbound congestion has cleared.
On this day, the expected traffic volume on highways nationwide is 5.24 million vehicles, with 490,000 vehicles expected to travel from provincial areas to the metropolitan area and 370,000 vehicles moving in the opposite direction.
The exemption of highway tolls applied during the Chuseok holiday will end at midnight. However, vehicles that enter the highway before midnight on the 27th and exit on the 28th will still be eligible for the toll exemption.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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