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Highways jammed as people return home after Chuseok holiday

Published: 09 Oct. 2025, 16:36

Traffic builds up in the Seoul-bound lanes near the Osan Interchange on the Gyeongbu Expressway in Osan, Gyeonggi on Oct. 9. [YONHAP]

Major expressways nationwide were congested on Thursday as people returned home on the final day of the extended Chuseok holiday.

This year's weeklong extended holiday runs through Thursday, as Chuseok, which fell on Monday this year, occurred near the same time as two other national holidays — National Foundation Day on Oct. 3 and Hangul Day on Oct. 9, which marks the creation of the Korean alphabet.

As of 9 a.m., the travel time to Seoul was estimated to be 6 hours and 40 minutes from the southeastern city of Busan, 4 hours and 10 minutes from the southwestern city of Gwangju and 3 hours from the eastern coastal city of Gangneung, according to the Korea Expressway Corp (KEC).

The KEC said inbound traffic will peak at around 4 to 5 p.m. and begin easing at 10 p.m.

A total of 5.13 million vehicles were forecast to move across the country on Thursday, including 400,000 leaving the Seoul metropolitan area for other provinces and 390,000 heading toward Seoul from other regions.

Yonhap