First Day of Seollal Holiday... Seoul to Busan 8 Hours 40 Minutes 'Morning Traffic Jam'

On the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, a surge of vehicles heading home is causing traffic congestion on major highways.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of the morning of the 9th, the estimated travel times by car from Seoul Tollgate to the destinations are ▲Busan 8 hours 40 minutes ▲Ulsan 8 hours 10 minutes ▲Daegu 7 hours 40 minutes ▲Gwangju 6 hours 50 minutes ▲Gangneung 5 hours ▲Daejeon 4 hours 30 minutes.

On the 8th, the southbound lanes of the Seoul-Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Busan are congested due to a high volume of vehicles. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

On the Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Busan, traffic is congested in the following sections: ▲Hannam to Seocho 4 km ▲Osan to Cheonan Junction 45 km ▲Cheonan Rest Area to Cheongju Junction 24 km ▲Near Jukam Rest Area to Jukam Rest Area 2 km ▲Near Sintanjin to Biryong Junction 13 km.

On the Seohaean Expressway heading toward Mokpo, congestion occurs in these sections: ▲Near Sunsan Tunnel 2 km ▲Near Paltan Junction to near Hwaseong Rest Area 2 km ▲Near Balan to Seohae Bridge 21 km ▲Seosan Rest Area to Haemi 5 km ▲Near Gwangcheon to Daecheon Rest Area 8 km ▲Dongseocheon Junction to Gunsan 6 km ▲Gunsan Rest Area to near Donggunsan 7 km.

On the Jungbu Expressway heading toward Namyi, traffic is slow in these sections: ▲Dongseoul Tollgate to near Sangok Junction 3 km ▲Near Jungbu 2 Tunnel to near Gyeonggi Gwangju Junction 7 km ▲Majang Junction to Hobup Junction 2 km ▲Hobup Junction to near Namicheon IC 8 km ▲Near Eumseong Rest Area to Daeso Junction 7 km ▲Near Jincheon Tunnel to Jeungpyeong 3 km ▲Near Seo Cheongju to Namyi Junction 9 km.

On the Yeongdong Line heading toward Gangneung, congestion is reported in these sections: ▲Near Saemal to Saemal 3 km ▲Near Manjong Junction to near Wonju 7 km ▲Near Icheon to Yeoju Junction 7 km ▲Near Deokpyeong Rest Area to near Hobup Junction 1 km ▲Yongin to near Yangji Tunnel 5.9 km ▲Near Maseong Tunnel to Yongin 5 km.

The expected nationwide traffic volume for the day is about 5.19 million vehicles. Approximately 490,000 vehicles are expected to travel from the metropolitan area to the provinces, and about 370,000 vehicles from the provinces to the metropolitan area. Traffic congestion on roads heading home is expected to peak between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., and to ease around 8 to 9 p.m. Traffic returning to the metropolitan area is expected to begin congesting between 9 and 10 a.m., peak between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., and clear around 6 to 7 p.m.

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