Highways congested on Chuseok holiday as people return home

On Saturday, the third day of South Korea's Chuseok holiday, major roads and expressways across the country were heavily congested as returning citizens began their journeys home. By 9 a.m., travel times to Seoul from Busan were estimated at seven hours, from Mokpo at six hours and 40 minutes, from Daegu at six hours, and from Gwangju at five hours and 20 minutes.

Conversely, trips from Seoul to Busan were expected to take five hours and 10 minutes, to Daegu for four hours and 10 minutes, and to Gwangju for three hours and 20 minutes.

Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, runs from Thursday to Sunday, marked by family reunions, ancestral rites, and traditional holiday foods. The holiday's peak congestion began early Saturday on expressways leading to Seoul, although traffic in the opposite direction began to ease. According to the Korea Expressway Corp., peak congestion was anticipated between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., with a slight improvement between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Sunday.

The state-run company projected that 5.9 million vehicles would traverse roads nationwide on Saturday alone, with approximately 380,000 vehicles departing from the Seoul area and 520,000 heading towards the capital from other regions.