Chuseok Traffic Backs Up Highways as Millions Travel Across South Korea
Expressways across South Korea became congested on the first day of the four-day Chuseok holiday, with 6.16 million vehicles expected on the roads nationwide and outbound trips from Seoul taking substantially longer than usual.
Highways across South Korea were heavily congested Thursday as millions of people began traveling for Chuseok, the country’s major autumn holiday and one of its busiest annual movement periods.
The four-day holiday runs from Thursday through Sunday this year. Chuseok traditionally brings families together in their hometowns, where many visit relatives and pay respects at ancestral graves. That nationwide movement placed immediate pressure on major expressways connecting Seoul with regional cities.
At 2 p.m., the estimated drive from Seoul to Busan had stretched to six hours and 40 minutes, according to the Korea Expressway Corp. A trip from the capital to Daegu was expected to take five hours and 40 minutes, while travel to Gwangju was estimated at five hours and 30 minutes. The journey from Seoul to Daejeon was projected at three hours and 10 minutes.
Traffic was also slow in the opposite direction, though estimated travel times into Seoul were generally shorter. The trip from Busan to the capital was expected to take five hours. Drivers leaving Daegu faced an estimated four-hour journey, while those traveling from Gwangju could expect three hours and 20 minutes on the road. Travel from Daejeon to Seoul was estimated at two hours and 10 minutes.
The highway operator expected approximately 6.16 million vehicles to travel nationwide during the day. About 510,000 cars were projected to leave the greater Seoul area for other parts of the country, compared with roughly 380,000 vehicles expected to head toward the capital from regional areas. The imbalance reflected the traditional early-holiday flow of travelers departing the densely populated metropolitan region for family gatherings elsewhere.
Congestion was visible on the Gyeongbu Expressway in southern Seoul, part of the main road corridor linking the capital with central and southeastern regions. The route is typically among the most closely watched during major holidays because it carries large numbers of vehicles toward Daejeon, Daegu and Busan.
The first-day traffic figures underscored the scale of domestic travel generated by Chuseok despite the relatively compact four-day break. Drivers faced significant delays on major outbound routes as the holiday period began, while substantial return traffic toward Seoul was already adding pressure in the opposite direction.