▲ The Gyeongbu Expressway in southern Seoul is packed with vehicles on Feb. 13, 2025, a day before the Lunar New Year holiday period. (Yonhap)

Lunar New Year-traffic

Traffic builds up on highways on 1st day of Lunar New Year holiday

SEOUL, Feb. 14 (Yonhap) -- Traffic on major highways began to build up across South Korea on Saturday, as people headed to their hometowns to mark the Lunar New Year.

The nation will mark the major holiday, known as Seol, on Tuesday, with the holiday period beginning over the weekend and running through Wednesday.

As of 8 a.m., a drive from Seoul to the southeastern port city of Busan, 330 kilometers away, was expected to take approximately six hours and 50 minutes, according to the state-run Korea Expressway Corp.

A trip to the southwestern city of Gwangju, some 260 kilometers south of the capital, was expected to take four hours and 20 minutes.

Traffic congestion on outbound routes from Seoul is expected to peak between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., with conditions easing between 6 and 7 p.m.

In contrast, travel times heading toward Seoul were relatively shorter, with the drive from Busan expected to take four hours and 30 minutes, and the trip from Gwangju estimated at three hours and 20 minutes.

The agency estimated that 4.85 million vehicles would travel nationwide Saturday, including 460,000 cars leaving the greater Seoul area and 370,000 heading toward it.

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