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Key Points

Major highways across South Korea experienced significant congestion during the extended Chuseok holiday period. Travel times from Seoul to Busan reached nearly seven hours as millions of vehicles filled the roads nationwide. President Lee Jae Myung used the occasion to reaffirm his commitment to improving people's livelihoods through social media. The holiday period saw extended celebrations combining Chuseok with other national observances creating week-long festivities.

Key Points: South Korea Chuseok Holiday Sees Major Highway Congestion

  • Seoul to Busan travel time reached 6 hours 50 minutes during holiday peak
  • Over 5.4 million vehicles expected nationwide on Chuseok Wednesday
  • Extended holiday combines Chuseok with National Foundation and Hangeul Days
  • President Lee faces criticism for TV appearance during government service outage
2 min read

South Korea: Highways partially congested on Chuseok holiday

Extended Chuseok holiday causes 7-hour Seoul-Busan travel times as 5.46 million vehicles hit South Korean roads during harvest festival period.

"With a humble heart, I promise again that I will more carefully look after the people's present and the future of their livelihoods - President Lee Jae Myung"

Seoul, Oct 8

Major roads and expressways were partially congested across South Korea on Wednesday, the sixth day of the extended Chuseok holiday.

With Chuseok, the Korean fall harvest festival, falling on Monday, South Koreans have been enjoying an extended holiday from Friday to Thursday, as Chuseok falls between National Foundation Day and Hangeul Day, which marks the creation of the Korean alphabet, Yonhap News Agency reported.

As of 8 am, travel times were estimated at 6 hours and 50 minutes from Seoul to the southeastern city of Busan, 4 hours and 40 minutes to the southeastern city of Daegu, and 1 hour and 48 minutes to the central city of Daejeon, according to the Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC).

Inbound travel times were shorter at five hours estimated from Busan to Seoul, 4 hours and 52 minutes from Daegu and 1 hour and 40 minutes from Daejeon, the KEC said.

A total of 5.46 million vehicles were forecast to be on the road nationwide Wednesday, including 320,000 departing from the Seoul metropolitan area for other provinces and 330,000 heading toward Seoul from other regions.

On Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reaffirmed his pledge to focus on improving people's livelihoods, a day after the nation celebrated the Chuseok holiday.

"With a humble heart, I promise again that I will more carefully look after the people's present and the future of their livelihoods," Lee wrote on Instagram as he shared photos of himself and first lady Kim Hea Kyung in traditional Korean attire to mark the nation's fall harvest festival.

He said he would commit to such efforts even if it could mean putting important things on the line or risking finger-pointing and misunderstanding.

Lee's comments come as South Korea and the United States are currently undergoing tariff negotiations.

It also came after the main opposition People Power Party criticised his appearance last night on JTBC's cooking show "Please Take Care of My Refrigerator," where he promoted Korean cuisine.

The recording of the episode featuring Lee and his wife took place amid an outage of online government services due to a fire at a state data centre late last month.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
6 hours 50 minutes from Seoul to Busan? That's actually not bad considering it's a major festival! During Diwali, it takes me 8 hours to reach my hometown from Delhi which is only 300km away. Traffic management seems better there.
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Arjun K
The President appearing on a cooking show during a data center outage seems a bit tone-deaf. Our politicians would face similar criticism here in India for such priorities. Governance should come first!
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Sarah B
Love how they've created an extended holiday by combining multiple national days! India could learn from this approach to festival planning. The traffic predictions of 5.46 million vehicles show amazing planning capabilities.
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Vikram M
Traditional attire photos by the President is a nice cultural touch. Reminds me of our PM wearing traditional clothes during festivals. Good to see leaders embracing cultural heritage! 🇮🇳🤝🇰🇷
K
Kavya N
The traffic flow seems quite balanced - 320k leaving Seoul and 330k entering. Shows good urban-rural connectivity. Hope our highway authorities can implement similar real-time traffic monitoring systems.

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