Seoul to Busan 4 Hours 40 Minutes... Traffic Jams on Return Home Routes

On the 28th, one day before the Lunar New Year holiday, homebound vehicles are gathering near the Anseong Service Area on the Gyeongbu Expressway, as seen from a police helicopter inspecting the homecoming traffic. (Aerial filming cooperation = Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Sergeant Mun Heung-ju, Inspector Shim Dong-guk) / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] On the afternoon of the 28th, traffic congestion is occurring on various expressways nationwide due to vehicles returning home for the holidays.

According to Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 7:47 PM, the southbound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Busan are congested over a 23 km stretch including Hannam to Yangjae, near Singal Junction to Suwon, near Cheongju to Nami Junction, near Hoedeok Junction, and near Daejeon Tunnel to Biryong Junction.

The Seoul Ring Expressway (Capital Region 1st Circular Expressway) toward Guri is congested at around 20 km/h over an 8 km stretch from near Gwangam Tunnel to near Topyeong. The Seohaean Expressway toward Mokpo is heavily congested over a 1 km stretch near Geumcheon.

At 8 PM today, the estimated travel times by passenger car from Seoul Tollgate to major cities are: Busan 4 hours 40 minutes, Ulsan 4 hours 10 minutes, Mokpo 3 hours 50 minutes, Gwangju 3 hours 40 minutes, Daegu 3 hours 40 minutes, Gangneung 2 hours 40 minutes, and Daejeon 1 hour 50 minutes.

The nationwide traffic volume today is expected to reach 4.97 million vehicles. The Korea Expressway Corporation anticipates 460,000 vehicles moving from the metropolitan area to provincial regions, and 450,000 vehicles moving from provincial regions to the metropolitan area.

The corporation expects that congestion in the direction of returning home will peak between 6 and 7 PM, coinciding with rush hour, and will ease around 9 to 10 PM.

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