Traffic clogged on highways as people travel for Chuseok

Sections of expressways across South Korea were heavily congested on Thursday as residents ventured to their hometowns for family gatherings during the inaugural day of the Chuseok holiday, which spans from Thursday to Sunday. This year's holiday period, signifying the harvest season, prompts Koreans to return to their ancestral homes to reunite with loved ones and pay homage at gravesites of their forebears.

As of 2 p.m., the Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC) projected travel durations from Seoul to Busan to be approximately six hours and 40 minutes, from Seoul to Daegu around five hours and 40 minutes, from Seoul to Gwangju five hours and 30 minutes, and from Seoul to Daejeon around three hours and 10 minutes. Conversely, travel times from Busan to Seoul were expected to take about five hours, from Daegu to Seoul around four hours, from Gwangju to Seoul three hours and 20 minutes, and from Daejeon to Seoul roughly two hours and 10 minutes, according to the KEC.

It is estimated that 6.16 million vehicles would be traversing the nation's highways on Thursday, comprising roughly 510,000 cars departing from the Seoul metropolitan area and 380,000 vehicles en route to Seoul from various regions.