Traffic Jam on the First Day of Lunar New Year Holiday... 8 Hours 40 Minutes from Seoul to Busan

On the 20th, one day before the Lunar New Year holiday, the Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Busan near Jamwon IC in Seoul is showing congestion. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

On the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the 21st, the homecoming traffic continued, causing congestion on major highways.

According to Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 8 a.m. that day, the estimated travel times by passenger car from Seoul Tollgate to major cities nationwide are 8 hours 40 minutes to Busan, 8 hours 20 minutes to Ulsan, 7 hours 40 minutes to Daegu, 6 hours 30 minutes to Gwangju, 4 hours 50 minutes to Gangneung, and 4 hours to Daejeon.

On the Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Busan, congestion occurred in the following sections: Banpo to Seocho (2 km), Dongtan Junction to Anseong (23 km), near Anseong (2 km), Cheonan to near Mokcheon (10 km), Cheonan Rest Area to Jukam Rest Area (36 km), and Hoedeok Junction to Biryong Junction (11 km).

On the Jungbu Expressway heading toward Namyi, vehicles are moving slowly in the following sections: Hanam to Sangok Junction (5 km), near Jungbu 1 Tunnel to near Gyeonggi Gwangju Junction (7 km), Majang Junction to near Namicheon IC (9 km), near Iljuk (2 km), near Jincheon to near Jincheon Tunnel (11 km), and near Ochang Rest Area to Namyi Junction (18 km). On the Seohaean Expressway heading toward Mokpo, congestion is occurring in the sections from Hwaseong Rest Area to Seohae Bridge (25 km) and near Dangjin Junction to near Unsan Tunnel (10 km).

On the Jungbu Naeryuk Line heading toward Changwon, vehicles are struggling to gain speed in the sections from Yeoju Junction to near Gamgok (16 km), near Chungju (3 km), near Jangyeon Tunnel (5 km), Mungyeong Saejae to near Mungyeong Rest Area (8 km), and near Jeomchon Hamchang to near Buk Sangju (4 km).

The expected nationwide traffic volume for the day is about 5.15 million vehicles, with 500,000 vehicles heading from the metropolitan area to the provinces and 360,000 vehicles traveling from the provinces to the metropolitan area.

The Expressway Corporation stated, "Since it is the day before the Lunar New Year, congestion on roads heading toward homecoming will be the worst during the holiday. Traffic jams are expected to peak between 11 a.m. and noon and to ease around 8 to 9 p.m."

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