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| ▲ The Gyeongbu Expressway in southern Seoul is packed with vehicles on Feb. 13, 2025, a day before the Lunar New Year holiday period. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) holiday-traffic
(LEAD) Major traffic congestion reported on outbound routes from Seoul amid Lunar New Year homecoming
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SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Yonhap) -- Several sections of outbound routes from Seoul saw major congestion on Sunday as many South Koreans headed 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.
Around 5 million vehicles were expected to hit the roads nationwide Sunday, causing the heaviest southbound traffic congestion, including 450,000 cars leaving the greater Seoul area and 380,000 heading toward it, according to the state-run Korea Expressway Corp.
Several southbound sections of the Gyeongbu Expressway, the nation's most heavily traveled highway linking Seoul and Busan, saw vehicles at a standstill or moving at a crawl due to heavy traffic.
Many parts of the Jungbu Naeryuk Expressway, which runs north to south across the country, also saw traffic pile up.
As of 5 p.m., the expected travel time by car from Seoul to the southeastern port city of Busan, about 330 kilometers away, was 4 hours and 50 minutes, while a trip to Daegu, some 240 km southeast of Seoul, was expected to take 3 hours and 50 minutes.
Travel times heading toward Seoul were relatively shorter, taking 4 hours and 30 minutes from Busan to Seoul, and 3 hours and 30 minutes from Daegu to Seoul.
The agency estimated traffic congestion may ease between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. in both directions.
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