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Highways jammed as Chuseok holiday travel begins

Published: 03 Oct. 2025, 15:05 Updated: 03 Oct. 2025, 18:56

South-bound lanes on Gyeongbu Expressway is seen congested near Jamwon Interchange in southern Seoul on Oct.3, the first day of Chuseok holiday. [NEWS1]

Sections of expressways across Korea were heavily jammed Friday as people headed to their hometowns for family reunions on the first day of the extended Chuseok holiday.

This year's holiday runs from Friday through next Thursday, as Chuseok, the Korean fall harvest festival, falls between two national holidays — National Foundation Day on Oct. 3 and Hangeul Day on Oct. 9, which marks the creation of the Korean alphabet.

Traditionally, Koreans return to their hometowns to spend time with family and pay respects at ancestors' altars and graves.

As of 8 a.m., travel times were estimated at 6 hours and 30 minutes from Seoul to the southeastern city of Busan, four hours to the southeastern city of Daegu and three hours and 20 minutes to the central city of Daejeon, according to the Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC).

The KEC said outbound traffic from Seoul was expected to peak around noon and ease by around 7 to 8 p.m.

A total of 5.24 million vehicles are forecast to travel nationwide Friday, including 440,000 departing the Seoul metropolitan area to other provinces and 430,000 heading toward Seoul from other regions.

Yonhap