Major highways in South Korea face heavy congestion as Chuseok holiday travel begins

Major highways across South Korea were heavily congested Friday morning as travelers headed out for the Chuseok holiday.

As of 9 a.m., the Korea Expressway Corp. estimated the Seoul-to-Busan journey would take 8 hours and 40 minutes.

Estimated travel times from Seoul were: 6 hours and 40 minutes to Mokpo, 8 hours and 20 minutes to Ulsan, 7 hours and 40 minutes to Daegu, 6 hours and 10 minutes to Gwangju, 4 hours and 10 minutes to Gangneung, and 3 hours and 50 minutes to Daejeon.

In the opposite direction, estimated travel times were: 7 hours and 50 minutes from Busan to Seoul, 7 hours from Mokpo, 7 hours and 30 minutes from Ulsan, 6 hours and 50 minutes from Daegu, 6 hours and 50 minutes from Gwangju, 3 hours and 30 minutes from Gangneung, and 3 hours from Daejeon.

The Korea Expressway Corp. forecast the heaviest outbound traffic from Seoul between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., with conditions expected to improve by 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Inbound traffic to Seoul is expected to peak between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., clearing by approximately 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday.

According to the Korea Expressway Corp, approximately 6.84 million vehicles are expected to travel nationwide on Friday, with 470,000 departing from the greater Seoul area and 460,000 traveling toward it.