Lunar New Year traffic from Seoul to peak Sunday
Published: 15 Feb. 2026, 10:33
![The Gyeongbu Expressway in southern Seoul is packed with vehicles on Feb. 13, 2025, a day before the Lunar New Year holiday period. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/02/15/351e75be-35b3-4e7d-a5fc-a6de46191b36.jpg)
The Gyeongbu Expressway in southern Seoul is packed with vehicles on Feb. 13, 2025, a day before the Lunar New Year holiday period. [YONHAP]
Outbound traffic was expected to peak on Sunday as more people head to their hometowns on the second day of the Lunar New Year holiday.
The nation will mark the major holiday, known as Seol, on Tuesday, with the holiday period beginning over the weekend and running through Wednesday.
Traffic on outbound routes was expected to be the heaviest between noon and 1 p.m. and ease from around 8 to 9 p.m., according to the state-run Korea Expressway.
As of 8 a.m., a drive from Seoul to the southeastern port city of Busan, about 330 kilometers (205 miles) away, was expected to take about six hours and 10 minutes, while a trip to Daegu, some 240 km southeast of Seoul, was expected to take five hours and 10 minutes.
Travel times heading toward Seoul were relatively shorter, taking five hours and 10 minutes from Busan to Seoul and four hours and 10 minutes from Daegu to Seoul.
The agency estimated that some 5 million vehicles would travel nationwide on Sunday, including 450,000 cars leaving the greater Seoul area and 380,000 heading toward it.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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