▲ Cars clog the Seoul section of the Gyeongbu Expressway on Jan. 29, 2025. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) holiday-traffic

(LEAD) Traffic heavy on highways on final day of extended Lunar New Year holiday

(ATTN: UPDATES with latest developments throughout; TRIMS)

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- Traffic on major highways built up nationwide Thursday, as millions of South Koreans returned home on the final day of the extended six-day Lunar New Year holiday.

On some sections of the Gyeongbu Expressway, which links Seoul to the southeastern city of Busan through major cities, cars were often at a standstill as of Thursday evening due to heavy traffic.

Traffic conditions, however, eased as the day progressed.

According to the state-run Korea Expressway Corp., a drive from the southeastern port city of Busan to Seoul, 320 kilometers in distance, was expected to take approximately five hours as of 6 p.m.

From Gwangju, 267 km south of the capital, the drive was expected to take five hours and 20 minutes.

From Seoul to Busan, the drive was to take four hours and 30 minutes. It would take three hours and 20 minutes from the capital city to Gwangju.

Traffic congestion on outbound routes from Seoul is expected to ease between 11 p.m. and midnight, according to the company.

An estimated 5.25 million cars were projected to travel on highways nationwide in both directions to and from the broader capital region in the day, the agency said.

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