Free Expressway Tolls During Lunar New Year Holiday... Up to 40% Discount on KTX Return Trips to Hometown

On the first day of the Chuseok holiday, the southbound lanes (right side) near Jamwon IC on the Gyeongbu Expressway in Seocho-gu, Seoul, are congested, causing vehicles to slow down. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] During the Seollal holiday period, highway tolls nationwide will be waived, and KTX return trip and homecoming fares can be discounted by up to 40%. Facilities of cultural institutions such as national museums will also be open free of charge.

On the 7th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that it has established these Seollal livelihood stabilization measures to promote domestic travel for both foreigners and Koreans during the holiday period.

First, highway tolls nationwide will be waived from the 24th to the 26th of this month. KTX return and homecoming trains will be discounted by 30-40%, and 16,000 parking spaces at local government and public institution lots will be open free of charge.

Additionally, 21 palaces and royal tombs including Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, as well as historical sites such as Hyeonchungsa and the King Sejong Memorial, will be open free of charge nationwide. The National Science Museum’s paid exhibition halls and the National Science Museum’s permanent exhibition halls will also operate free of charge.

The government is also focusing on attracting foreign tourists in connection with the Korea Grand Sale. First, the Korea Grand Sale, a shopping and cultural tourism festival involving about 1,000 companies, will be held from the 16th of this month until the 29th of next month. Popular cultural content experience events such as K-pop and K-beauty will be increased, and special airfare deals on regional routes by airlines will be introduced.

In particular, for tourists from Asia including China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, the government plans to waive visa fees during university vacation periods (China) and allow visa-free entry with transit at regional airports for group tourists from the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia visiting Jeju.

Furthermore, to expand consumption during the Seollal holiday period, the government will double the scale of gift certificate issuance compared to last year. Traditional market gift certificates worth 530 billion KRW and local love gift certificates worth 500 billion KRW will be sold in January and February, before and after the holiday. This is about an 80% increase compared to last year’s target of 575 billion KRW. The government will raise the individual purchase limit for traditional market gift certificates from 300,000 KRW to 700,000 KRW per month and increase the discount rate for mobile purchases from the existing 5% to 10%. The purchase limit applies until February 28, and the mobile discount is valid until the cumulative sales of 700 billion KRW are exhausted.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.