On the 17th, the substitute holiday for Liberation Day, an estimated 5.05 million vehicles are expected to be on the move nationwide. With homebound traffic crowding national expressways on this final day of the three-day holiday, congestion is anticipated.
According to Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC), as of 8 a.m. it was expected to take up to 5 hours 20 minutes from Busan to the Seoul tollgate. Travel times to Seoul were forecast at 4 hours 20 minutes from Mokpo, 4 hours 10 minutes from Daegu, 3 hours 20 minutes from Gwangju, 2 hours 40 minutes from Gangneung, and 1 hour 40 minutes from Daejeon.
Expressway congestion was expected to begin around 11 a.m. From around noon, travel from Busan to Seoul was projected to take 5 hours 50 minutes. Congestion was expected to peak around 4–5 p.m. and ease around 9–10 p.m.
However, traffic leaving Seoul for other cities was generally expected to be smooth. As of 8 a.m., estimated travel times from Seoul to each city were 4 hours 30 minutes to Busan, 4 hours 10 minutes to Ulsan, 3 hours 40 minutes to Mokpo, 3 hours 30 minutes to Daegu, 3 hours 20 minutes to Gwangju, 2 hours 40 minutes to Gangneung, and 1 hour 33 minutes to Daejeon.