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Traffic jammed on highways ahead of extended Chuseok holiday

September 27, 2023

Heavy traffic began to build on major roads and highways across South Korea on Wednesday as people headed to their hometowns to celebrate the extended Chuseok holiday.

Chuseok, which falls on Friday this year, is the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving during which people get together with family members and relatives and visit their ancestors’ graves.

The extended Chuseok break this year gives people six days off until next Tuesday, as an extra one-day temporary holiday and National Foundation Day will follow.

Some 5.85 million vehicles were expected to hit the road on the eve of the rare six-day holiday, with the traffic peaking at around 6-7 p.m. and forecast to continue through the next day, according to the Korea Expressway Corp.

Traveling from Seoul to Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of the capital, was estimated to take nearly six hours, with the trip to Daegu, 237 km southeast, to take about four hours and 40 minutes and to the southwestern city of Gwangju about 5 1/2 hours, the traffic agency said.

This photo, taken aboard a police helicopter, shows an aerial view of a road junction clogged with heavy traffic in Yongin, just south of Seoul, on Sept. 27, 2023, as people headed to their hometowns to celebrate the extended Chuseok holiday. (Yonhap)
This photo, taken aboard a police helicopter, shows an aerial view of a road junction clogged with heavy traffic in Yongin, just south of Seoul, on Sept. 27, 2023, as people headed to their hometowns to celebrate the extended Chuseok holiday. (Yonhap)