Traffic congestion on expressways that began on the first day of the Chuseok holiday continues.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 5 p.m. on the 5th, the estimated travel time from the Seoul Tollgate to major cities nationwide is 5 hours 10 minutes to Busan, 4 hours 30 minutes to Ulsan and Mokpo, 4 hours 10 minutes to Gwangju, 3 hours 50 minutes to Daegu, 3 hours to Gangneung, and 2 hours 30 minutes to Daejeon.
Nationwide traffic volume is expected to be 5.75 million vehicles that day. An estimated 470,000 vehicles will head from the Seoul metropolitan area to the provinces, and 460,000 from the provinces to the metropolitan area.
On the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Busan, congestion is occurring over 7 kilometers from the Seoul Junction to near Tongdosa.
On the Seohaean Expressway toward Mokpo, traffic is jammed for 3 kilometers near Seosan to Seosan, and for 6 kilometers from near the Dong Seocheon Junction to near Gunsan. On the Jungbu Expressway toward Nami, traffic is slow over a 13-kilometer section from Ochang to the Nami Junction. On the Yeongdong Expressway toward Gangneung, congestion extends for 1 kilometer from near the Hobup Junction to the Hobup Junction, and for 2 kilometers from near the Manjong Junction to the Manjong Junction.
The estimated time to travel from major cities to Seoul is 4 hours 40 minutes from Busan, 4 hours 30 minutes from Ulsan, 3 hours 40 minutes from Gwangju, 3 hours 50 minutes from Daegu, 2 hours 40 minutes from Gangneung, and 2 hours 20 minutes from Daejeon.
On the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Seoul, congestion is seen for 3 kilometers from Daejeon to near Daejeon, 3 kilometers from Sintanjin to near Sintanjin, 6 kilometers from near Oksan to near the Cheongju Service Area, 2 kilometers from Cheonan to near Cheonan, 3 kilometers from the Anseong Junction to near the Anseong Service Area, and 5 kilometers from near Osan to near the Dongtan Junction.
The holiday homebound and return congestion is expected to ease only around 8–9 p.m. that day.