On the morning of the 15th, the second day of the Lunar New Year holiday, homebound traffic continued and congestion built up in multiple sections of expressways.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC), as of 9 a.m. the expected travel time from the Seoul tollgate to major cities nationwide is 6 hours 50 minutes to Busan, 6 hours 30 minutes to Ulsan, 5 hours 20 minutes to Mokpo, 5 hours 50 minutes to Daegu, 5 hours 20 minutes to Gwangju, 3 hours 50 minutes to Gangneung, and 3 hours 30 minutes to Daejeon.
In the opposite direction to Seoul, it is 5 hours 20 minutes from Busan, 5 hours from Ulsan, 4 hours 20 minutes from Daegu, 2 hours 40 minutes from Gangneung, 1 hour 30 minutes from Daejeon, 3 hours 40 minutes from Gwangju, and 3 hours 40 minutes from Mokpo.
On the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Busan, traffic is heavy for 3 km from near Namsa to near Anseong Junction, 14 km from near Ipjang to near Cheonan, 12 km from Cheonan Junction to near Cheonan Hodu Service Area, and 16 km from near Oksan Junction to Cheongju Junction. On the Jungbu Inland Expressway toward Changwon, congestion also persists for 10 km from Yeoju Junction to near Gamgok and 4 km from Yeonpung to near Mungyeongsaejae Tunnel.
The corporation expected traffic headed to hometowns to be the heaviest on this day during the holiday period. It said the busiest time would be between 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., with conditions easing from around 8–9 p.m. For return traffic, the peak is expected between 4–5 p.m., easing around 8–9 p.m.
The corporation projected 450,000 vehicles would travel from the greater Seoul area to the provinces and 380,000 vehicles from the provinces to the greater Seoul area on the day.