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Mass exodus begins for Lunar New Year

February 17, 2015

Heavy traffic congestion occurs on southbound lanes of the Seoul-Busan Expressway in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays on Feb. 17, 2015. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — The annual migration of South Koreans for the Lunar New Year began Tuesday with millions heading to their hometowns ahead of the traditional holiday.

Lunar New Year’s Day, which falls on Thursday this year, is one of the largest holidays in South Korea with this year’s holiday running from Wednesday to Sunday.

Lunar New Year, or “seollal,” provides a rare opportunity for South Koreans to go home and spend quality time with family and friends. Families typically eat rice cake soup to mark adding a year to one’s age and perform ancestral rites during seollal.

As of 1 p.m., some 200,000 cars have left Seoul, with 240,000 more expected to follow by midnight, according to the Korea Expressway Corp.

Traffic congestion was already noticed in some highway sections, with travel time from Seoul to the southern port city of Busan estimated at 6 hours and 50 minutes. To the central city of Daejeon, the expressway operator said it would take four hours from Seoul.

Traffic will reach its peak around 6 p.m. and continue until past midnight, the operator said.

About 33.5 million trips are expected to be made during this year’s holiday, 15.7 percent higher than last year, according to the transport ministry.

More than 8 in 10 people said they will drive, while some 10.3 percent chose to take the bus. The remaining 4.4 percent said they will take the train, fly or travel by boat, according to a survey conducted by the Korea Transport Institute.

Most of the country has been forecast to be cloudy with patches of rain or snow expected in early afternoon, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.