The annual national traffic jam began again this weekend:
Cars are stuck on the Gyeongbu Expressway in Seoul on Oct. 3, 2025, the first day of the extended Chuseok holiday. (Yonhap)
Heavy traffic began to build on major roads and highways across South Korea on Sunday as people headed to their hometowns for family reunions a day ahead of Chuseok.
Chuseok, the Korean fall harvest festival, falls on Monday but South Koreans are enjoying an extended holiday from Friday to Thursday, as it falls between National Foundation Day and Hangeul Day, which marks the creation of the Korean alphabet.
Chuseok reception at White House Participants perform a traditional Korean fan dance at the first-ever White House reception for Chuseok, the Korean autumn harvest celebration, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington on Sept. 17, 2024. (Yonhap)
Going back to hometowns This aerial photo shows traffic clogging the lanes of the Seoul-Busan Expressway in Yongin, 42 kilometers south of Seoul, on Sept. 13, 2024, four days before the Chuseok holiday — a time for family reunions. (Yonhap)
The annual traffic chaos during Chuseok has begun:
Heavy traffic began to build on major roads and highways across South Korea on Wednesday as people headed to their hometowns to celebrate the extended Chuseok holiday.
Chuseok, which falls on Friday this year, is the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving during which people get together with family members and relatives and visit their ancestors’ graves.
The extended Chuseok break this year gives people six days off until next Tuesday, as an extra one-day temporary holiday and National Foundation Day will follow.
Some 5.85 million vehicles were expected to hit the road on the eve of the rare six-day holiday, with the traffic peaking at around 6-7 p.m. and forecast to continue through the next day, according to the Korea Expressway Corp.
You can read more at the link, but I have always found Chuseok to be a great time of the year to visit Seoul because of the lack of crowds from everyone leaving to go to their home towns.
This year will be a longer than normal Chuseok season for Koreans:
President Yoon Suk Yeol (3rd from L) speaks during a regular meeting on the economy and public livelihood issues at the presidential office in Seoul on Aug. 31, 2023. (Yonhap)
President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday the government will designate Oct. 2 a temporary holiday to create a six-day extended break from Chuseok and help boost domestic tourism and the economy.
Yoon made the remark while presiding over a regular meeting on the economy and public livelihood issues, saying the government will also distribute 600,000 hotel discount coupons and waive expressway tolls during the holiday period.
This year’s Chuseok fall harvest holiday will run from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, which means the temporary holiday will be a bridge to Oct. 3 National Foundation Day, another public holiday.
I feel for anyone that has to battle Chuseok traffic. I have had to do it once before and I said never again:
Most highways and roads were clogged with heavy traffic early Sunday, as people were traveling back home on the third day of the four-day Chuseok holiday.
Chuseok, the Korean autumn harvest celebration, is one of the country’s biggest traditional holidays and serves as a chance for family members to get together. Chuseok is celebrated on Aug. 15 in the lunar calendar, which fell on Saturday this year.
Chuseok exodus Heavy traffic clogs the southbound lanes on the Gyeongbu Expressway, which links Seoul to Busan, in southern Seoul, on Sept. 20, 2021, as many people hit the road ahead of the traditional holiday of Chuseok. (Yonhap)
Traffic congestion on Chuseok holidayRows of vehicles move at a snail’s pace in southern Seoul on Sept. 18, 2021, as many people hit the road to celebrate the Chuseok holiday in their hometowns. (Yonhap)
Foreign students play Korean game Foreign students wearing the traditional Korean costume, or “hanbok,” play a jumbo version of “yutnori,” a Korean game traditionally played with sticks, at a university in Daegu on Sept. 25, 2020, as part of events to experience the Korean culture. The events were held ahead of the Chuseok holiday on Oct. 1, one of the country’s biggest traditional holidays. (Yonhap)
