Heavy traffic reported on final day of Chuseok holiday
Published: 09 Oct. 2025, 10:22
![Vehicles crawl along the southbound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway near the Jamwon Interchange in Seoul’s Seocho District Oct. 8, the sixth day of the Chuseok holiday. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/10/09/f7c1f671-1cbb-4865-932e-7da4c2381f0c.jpg)
Vehicles crawl along the southbound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway near the Jamwon Interchange in Seoul’s Seocho District Oct. 8, the sixth day of the Chuseok holiday. [YONHAP]
On the final day of the Chuseok holiday, heavy traffic is clogging major highways across the country as people return home.
According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 9 a.m. Thursday, estimated travel times to the Seoul Tollgate from major cities were: six hours and 40 minutes from Busan, five hours and 40 minutes from Mokpo, five hours and 30 minutes from Ulsan, four hours and 50 minutes from Daegu, four hours and 10 minutes from Gwangju, three hours from Gangneung, two hours from Yangyang and one hour and 50 minutes from Daejeon.
In the opposite direction, estimated travel times from Seoul were five hours and 10 minutes to Ulsan, five hours to Busan, four hours and 20 minutes to Daegu, four hours to Gangneung, three hours and 50 minutes to Mokpo, three hours and 20 minutes to Gwangju, two hours and 40 minutes to Yangyang and one hour and 38 minutes to Daejeon.
On the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Seoul, traffic was backed up near the Seocho Interchange for about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) and near the Banpo Interchange for nearly 1.8 kilometers. On the Seohaean Expressway toward Mokpo, vehicles were moving slowly between Seopyeongtaek Junction and Seopyeongtaek Interchange, a 6.5-kilometer stretch.
Most other sections remained relatively clear. The expressway corporation said congestion on roads heading into Seoul would intensify between 9 and 10 a.m., peak between 4 and 5 p.m. and ease around 10 p.m. The Yeongdong and Seohaean expressways are expected to be the most congested.
Traffic heading out of Seoul remained relatively smooth.
The corporation estimated that 5.13 million vehicles would be on the roads nationwide Thursday, with about 400,000 traveling from the Seoul metropolitan area to provincial regions and 390,000 making the return trip.
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 JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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