Traffic congestion on the way home eases somewhat... Seoul to Busan 4 hours 30 minutes

Traffic congestion toward hometown direction expected to clear between 8 and 9 PM

On the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the 9th, traffic congestion on major highways nationwide has somewhat eased, allowing vehicles to pick up speed.

On the 8th, one day before the Lunar New Year holiday, the full-scale homecoming battle began, causing traffic congestion as vehicles crowded the southbound lanes toward Busan on the Gyeongbu Expressway in Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

According to Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 5 p.m. that day, the estimated travel times by passenger car from Seoul Tollgate to major cities nationwide are 4 hours 30 minutes to Busan, 4 hours 12 minutes to Ulsan, 3 hours 30 minutes to Daegu, 3 hours 30 minutes to Gwangju, 2 hours 50 minutes to Gangneung, and 1 hour 50 minutes to Daejeon.

These times are 3 to 4 hours shorter than when departing in the morning, making traffic flow much smoother. However, congestion still occurs in some sections.

On the Gyeongbu Expressway heading toward Busan, vehicles are moving slowly in the sections from Hannam to Seocho (4 km), Namsajinwi to Namsa (5 km), Cheonan Rest Area to Oksan (14 km), and Okcheon Tunnel 1 to Okcheon Tunnel 4 (6 km). On the Seohaean Expressway heading toward Mokpo, traffic is stop-and-go in the sections from Seopyeongtaek to Seohae Bridge (6 km), near Dangjin (2 km), Dongseocheon Junction to Gunsan (4 km), and near Julpo (7 km). On the Jungbu Expressway heading toward Nami, vehicles are unable to speed up in the sections from Jincheon to Jincheon Tunnel (5 km) and Ochang to Seo Cheongju (6 km). Additionally, on the Yeongdong Line heading toward Gangneung, vehicles are crawling in the section from Seochang Junction to Wolgot Junction (2 km).

The expected nationwide traffic volume for the day is approximately 5.19 million vehicles. Of these, 490,000 vehicles are expected to move from the metropolitan area to local regions, and 370,000 vehicles from local regions to the metropolitan area. The Expressway Corporation anticipates that congestion in the direction of returning home will ease around 8 to 9 p.m.

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