SEOUL: Major highways across South Korea were heavily congested Friday morning as travellers headed out for the Chuseok holiday.
As of 9 a.m., the Korea Expressway Corp. estimated the Seoul-to-Busan journey would take 8 hours and 40 minutes.
Estimated travel times from Seoul were: 6 hours and 40 minutes to Mokpo, 8 hours and 20 minutes to Ulsan, 7 hours and 40 minutes to Daegu, 6 hours and 10 minutes to Gwangju, 4 hours and 10 minutes to Gangneung, and 3 hours and 50 minutes to Daejeon.
In the opposite direction, estimated travel times were: 7 hours and 50 minutes from Busan to Seoul, 7 hours from Mokpo, 7 hours and 30 minutes from Ulsan, 6 hours and 50 minutes from Daegu, 6 hours and 50 minutes from Gwangju, 3 hours and 30 minutes from Gangneung, and 3 hours from Daejeon.
The Korea Expressway Corp. forecast the heaviest outbound traffic from Seoul between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., with conditions expected to improve by 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Inbound traffic to Seoul is expected to peak between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., clearing by approximately 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Saturday.
According to the Korea Expressway Corp, approximately 6.84 million vehicles are expected to travel nationwide on Friday, with 470,000 departing from the greater Seoul area and 460,000 travelling towards it. - Korea Herald/ANN
