Chuseok Traffic Builds Across South Korea as 6.84 Million Vehicles Take to Roads
Heavy Chuseok traffic spread across South Korea on Friday, with 6.84 million vehicles expected nationwide and congestion forecast to peak in the early afternoon.
Heavy traffic spread across South Korea’s expressway network on Friday as millions of people traveled for Chuseok family gatherings, pushing estimated journey times from Seoul to major regional cities far beyond normal levels.
The Korea Expressway Corp. projected that 6.84 million vehicles would use roads nationwide during the day. About 470,000 vehicles were expected to leave the greater Seoul area, while approximately 460,000 were forecast to head toward the capital region from elsewhere in the country.
As of 9 a.m., the estimated drive from Seoul to Busan was eight hours and 40 minutes. Motorists leaving the capital faced projected travel times of eight hours and 20 minutes to Ulsan, seven hours and 40 minutes to Daegu, six hours and 40 minutes to Mokpo, and six hours and 10 minutes to Gwangju.
Northbound traffic was also expected to remain heavy as some travelers returned to the Seoul metropolitan area. Estimated journeys to Seoul stood at seven hours and 50 minutes from Busan, seven hours and 30 minutes from Ulsan, seven hours from Mokpo, and six hours and 50 minutes from Gwangju.
The state-run expressway operator expected congestion to reach its peak between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. It forecast that traffic conditions would begin easing between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., suggesting that substantial delays would persist through much of the holiday afternoon.
Friday marked the second day of this year’s Chuseok holiday period, which runs from Thursday through Sunday. Chuseok, often described as the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, traditionally brings large-scale movement across the country as people visit hometowns, reunite with relatives, hold ancestral rites and share holiday foods.
The combination of outbound journeys and return trips placed pressure on routes in both directions. The latest estimates indicated that travelers on several of the country’s longest intercity corridors should prepare for full-day journeys, while those with flexible schedules could avoid the forecast early-afternoon peak. The traffic volume underscored the scale of the annual holiday migration despite the relatively short four-day break. It also showed why official travel-time estimates remained important for families planning departures and returns during the concentrated movement period.