Chuseok Traffic Jams: Seoul-Busan Hits 9 Hours

An aerial view of a congested highway during the Chuseok holiday rush.

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As of September 25, 2026, holiday traffic has clogged highways across South Korea on Chuseok, with homebound travelers and returning drivers hitting the roads at the same time. The Seoul-Busan drive is now expected to take nearly nine hours, and an estimated 6.84 million vehicles are on the move nationwide today.

6.84 million vehiclesEstimated nationwide highway traffic on Chuseok day

8 hours 40 minutesEstimated Seoul-to-Busan drive time as of 9 a.m.

9 hours 10 minutesEstimated Seoul-to-Busan drive time as of 10 a.m.

4 daysLength of the toll-free Chuseok holiday period

Key points

As of 9 a.m., the Seoul Tollgate-to-Busan drive was estimated at 8 hours 40 minutes; by 10 a.m., that estimate had climbed past nine hours as congestion deepened.
Traffic crawled at multiple points, including the Gyeongbu Expressway near Dongtan Junction toward Cheonan, plus the Seoul-Yangyang, Seohaean (West Coast), and Gwangju-Wonju expressways.
Outbound congestion is expected to peak around 1 p.m. before easing by evening, while return-trip traffic should peak late in the day and not clear until early the next morning.
Tolls are waived for all four days of this Chuseok holiday, which appears to have drawn even more cars onto the highways.

Highway traffic across South Korea is snarled this Chuseok morning as homebound travelers and drivers already heading back overlap on the roads. The Korea Expressway Corporation expects roughly 6.84 million vehicles to be on the move nationwide today.

As of 9 a.m., the corporation's estimate for the Seoul Tollgate-to-Busan drive stood at 8 hours 40 minutes. Just an hour later, at 10 a.m., that estimate had climbed past nine hours — a sign of how quickly conditions were deteriorating.

The Gyeongbu Expressway saw slow traffic at multiple points, from around Dongtan Junction toward Cheonan, and the Seoul-Yangyang, Seohaean (West Coast), and Gwangju-Wonju expressways also crawled. Going the other direction, drivers heading back to Seoul from Busan, Daegu, or Mokpo faced roughly seven-hour trips.

The corporation expects outbound congestion to peak around 1 p.m. before easing by evening, while the return-trip crunch should hit its worst in the late afternoon and not clear until the early hours of the next morning. Actual conditions could shift, so the agency is urging drivers to check real-time traffic updates before heading out.

Adding to the crunch: tolls are waived for all four days of this Chuseok holiday, which likely pulled even more cars onto the road. Anyone who passes through a tollgate during that window rides free, regardless of when exactly they enter or exit.

In Korea right nowIt's the same holiday gridlock as every year, but social media is full of screenshots of real-time navigation estimates and requests for detour tips. Some commenters joked that free tolls during a holiday rush was basically asking for a traffic jam.

FAQ

Why is traffic so bad specifically on Chuseok day?

Drivers who already finished their homebound trip are heading back at the same time others are just leaving for their hometowns, so both directions get jammed at once.

Do drivers still have to pay tolls during this period?

No — tolls are waived for all four days of the holiday, so driving is free regardless of when you enter or exit the highway.

When's the best time to leave to avoid the worst traffic?

Forecasts suggest outbound traffic eases by late evening and return traffic clears in the early morning hours, so timing a trip around those windows can help.