Highway congestion builds on Chuseok as Koreans travel to hometowns

Heavy traffic clogged expressways across South Korea on Friday, the second day of the Chuseok holiday, as people headed to their hometowns for family reunions, with trips from Seoul to the southeastern city of Busan estimated to take seven hours and 20 minutes. As of 2 p.m., travel times from Seoul were estimated at six hours to Mokpo, seven hours and 20 minutes to Ulsan, six hours and 40 minutes to Daegu, and five hours and 40 minutes to Gwangju, according to the Korea Expressway Corp. This year's holiday for Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving, runs from Thursday to Sunday. The holiday is marked by visits to hometowns, family reunions, ancestral rites and traditional holiday foods. Trips to Seoul were expected to take eight hours and 10 minutes from Busan, seven hours and 10 minutes from Mokpo, seven hours and 50 minutes from Ulsan, and six hours and 40 minutes from Gwangju. The state-run company said traffic congestion on roads leaving the Seoul area was expected to peak between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. and ease between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. In the opposite direction, congestion was ex