Traffic congestion on major expressways for people heading to their hometowns appeared to have eased somewhat by the evening of today (the 25th), Chuseok day.

However, heavy traffic continues to tail back on routes heading back to the capital region, causing bottlenecks in various areas.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 7:00 PM today, the estimated travel times from the Seoul Toll Gate to major cities across the country are 4 hours and 30 minutes to Busan, 4 hours and 10 minutes to Ulsan, and 3 hours and 40 minutes to Mokpo, indicating that congestion for outbound trips has largely cleared.

The journey from Seoul to Daegu takes 3 hours and 30 minutes, Gwangju 3 hours and 20 minutes, Gangneung 2 hours and 40 minutes, and Daejeon 1 hour and 50 minutes.

Conversely, the estimated travel times from each city back to Seoul are 5 hours and 50 minutes from Busan, 5 hours and 30 minutes from Mokpo and Ulsan, 5 hours and 10 minutes from Gwangju, 4 hours and 50 minutes from Daegu, 3 hours and 20 minutes from Daejeon, and 3 hours from Gangneung.

Looking at conditions on major expressways, the Busan-bound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway are experiencing congestion in sections such as a 2.68-kilometer stretch near Singal Junction and a 4.39-kilometer stretch near Giheung Dongtan IC.

On the Seoul-bound lanes, vehicles are crawling at a snail's pace along a 7.5-kilometer stretch near Oksan Junction and an 11-kilometer stretch around Hwalcheon to Gyeongju.

Congestion also persists on the Seoul-bound lanes of the Seohaean Expressway, including a 2-kilometer stretch near Buan, a 15-kilometer stretch from Donggunsan to near Dongseocheon Junction, and a 3-kilometer stretch near Gwangcheon.

The Seoul-bound lanes of the Seohaean Expressway are showing slow-moving traffic across a 13.93-kilometer stretch at Seogimje IC and a 17-kilometer stretch from Songak IC to Poseung JC.

Major roads within Seoul are also congested due to a combination of rain and heavy traffic.

Currently, traffic remains congested on the Olympic-daero section from the Dongbu Expressway Junction to the south end of Yeongdong Bridge, and from the south end of Hannam Bridge to the south end of Banpo Bridge. Vehicles are also inching along slowly from the south end of Yeongdong Bridge to the south end of Seongsu Bridge.

On Gangbyeonbuk-ro, the section from the north end of Dongho Bridge to the north end of Banpo Bridge is congested.

Vehicles are also moving slowly on the Bukbu Expressway from Mukdong IC to Wolleung IC, and on the Neungbu Urban Expressway from the Hongje Ramp to the Yeonhui Ramp.

The corporation projected that congestion for outbound trips would clear around 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM, while congestion for return trips is expected to clear around 2:00 AM to 3:00 AM the following day.

The corporation forecasted total nationwide traffic volume for today at approximately 6.84 million vehicles.

It estimated that 470,000 vehicles would move from the metropolitan area to provincial regions, and 460,000 vehicles from provincial regions to the metropolitan area.