Seoul's highways experience heavy congestion on first day of Lunar New Year holiday
Published: 14 Feb. 2026, 15:12
![The Gyeongbu Expressway in Seocho District, southern Seoul, is congested with vehicles on Feb. 14, as the five-day Lunar New Year holiday kicks off. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/14/c6e33292-f16c-42d6-9b95-50ddc12d78ea.jpg)
The Gyeongbu Expressway in Seocho District, southern Seoul, is congested with vehicles on Feb. 14, as the five-day Lunar New Year holiday kicks off. [NEWS1]
The Korea Expressway Corporation said that estimated travel times from Seoul as of 2 p.m. were: 5 hours and 10 minutes to Busan, 4 hours and 50 minutes to Ulsan, 3 hours and 10 minutes to Gangneung, Gangwon, 2 hours and 20 minutes to Yangyang, Gangwon, 2 hours and 20 minutes to Daejeon, 4 hours to Gwangju, 4 hours and 20 minutes to Mokpo, South Jeolla, and 4 hours and 10 minutes to Daegu.
Congestion was at its worst between 11 a.m. and noon, with traffic flow improving steadily afterward. Holiday traffic of people heading to hometowns was expected to largely dissipate between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
A total of 4.85 million vehicles were projected to use expressways nationwide on this day. Of those, an estimated 460,000 vehicles were expected to travel from the greater Seoul area to regional destinations, while 370,000 were projected to head in the opposite direction.
Estimated travel times to Seoul from regional cities were 4 hours and 50 minutes from Busan, 4 hours and 30 minutes from Ulsan, 2 hours and 40 minutes from Gangneung, 1 hour and 50 minutes from Yangyang, 1 hour and 40 minutes from Daejeon, 3 hours and 20 minutes from Gwangju, 3 hours and 40 minutes from Mokpo and 3 hours and 50 minutes from Daegu.
An official from the Korea Expressway Corporation said traffic volume was expected to disperse further into the evening, gradually easing congestion on major routes.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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