{
  "id": 9497754,
  "title": "Traffic clogged on highways as people travel for Chuseok",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/traffic-clogged-on-highways-as-people-travel-for-chuseok",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-24T06:02:04.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Korea Times",
    "slug": "the-korea-times",
    "url": "https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/southkorea/society/20260924/traffic-clogged-on-highways-as-people-travel-for-chuseok"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Chuseok, Korea's harvest festival, brought heavy traffic to highways as millions of people made their way to their hometowns for family reunions and to pay respects at their ancestors' graves. The holiday period spans from Thursday to Sunday this year. According to the Korea Expressway Corp., travel time from Seoul to Busan was estimated at six hours and 40 minutes, while the journey to Daegu took five hours and 40 minutes, Gwangju five hours and 30 minutes, and Daejeon three hours and 10 minutes at the time of 2 p.m. Conversely, the estimated travel time from Busan to Seoul was five hours, from Daegu to Seoul four hours, from Gwangju to Seoul three hours and 20 minutes, and from Daejeon to Seoul two hours and 10 minutes. It was projected that around 6.16 million vehicles would be traversing the nation's roads on Thursday, including approximately 510,000 cars departing from the Seoul metropolitan area and 380,000 vehicles heading towards Seoul from other regions.",
  "summary": "Sections of expressways across Korea were congested Thursday as people headed to their hometowns for family reunions on the first day of the Chuseok holiday period. This year's holiday period marking the fall harvest runs from Thursday to Sunday. Traditionally, Koreans return to their hometowns during Chuseok to reunite with family members and pay respects at their ancestors' graves. As of 2…",
  "key_points": [
    "Chuseok holiday causes heavy traffic on highways",
    "Travel time from Seoul to Busan estimated at 6h40m",
    "6.16 million vehicles projected to use roads on Thursday"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The massive travel during Chuseok brings significant delays on highways, underscoring the challenges of coordinating family reunions and ancestral visits during Korea's major harvest festival.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Yonhap News",
        "title": "Traffic clogged on highways as people travel for Chuseok",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/traffic-clogged-on-highways-as-people-travel-for-chuseok-9498060",
        "published": "2026-09-24T05:30:12.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "Traffic clogged on highways as people travel for Chuseok",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/traffic-clogged-on-highways-as-people-travel-for-chuseok-9501002",
        "published": "2026-09-24T06:22:04.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}