(LEAD) Highways congested on Chuseok holiday as people return home

Major roads and expressways across South Korea were plagued by congestion on Saturday, the third day of the Chuseok holiday, as returning residents made their way home from their hometowns. By 1 p.m., travel times to Seoul from southeastern Busan were estimated at seven hours and 50 minutes, while routes from Mokpo, Daegu, and southwestern Gwangju were also delayed by similar durations.

Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving equivalent, is observed from Thursday to Sunday, a period marked by family visits, reunions, ancestral rites, and traditional culinary delights. Traffic on expressways leading to Seoul began to choke early Saturday, although the flow in the opposite direction showed some improvement. As of 1 p.m., the journey from Seoul to Busan was projected to take five hours and 30 minutes, and to Gwangju, three hours and 20 minutes.

The state-run Korea Expressway Corporation predicts peak congestion between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., with a gradual easing expected between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Sunday. It anticipates roughly 5.9 million vehicles traversing the nation's roads on Saturday, including approximately 380,000 departing from the greater Seoul region and 520,000 heading towards the capital from other areas.