Chuseok traffic on expressways to peak on 24th, 25th, from and to Seoul

Traffic from Seoul to other regions during the Chuseok holidays will likely peak Thursday morning, with return traffic highest Friday afternoon, according to analysis by state-run organizations.

An average of 6.05 million cars a day will use the expressways nationwide during the holidays, according to the Korea Transport Institute and the Korea Expressway Corporation. The daily average is estimated to rise 11.8 percent compared to last year's 5.41 million cars, and 6.84 million cars will be on the road on Friday, Chuseok day.

Passenger cars are expected to account for 88.4 percent of vehicles on the road during the holidays.

Traffic from Seoul to other major regions will peak Thursday morning. Trips to Busan could take as long as 10 hours and 30 minutes, and 10 hours and 45 minutes to Mokpo in the Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City.

The return trip to Seoul will be the busiest Friday afternoon, taking as much as 9 hours from Busan to Seoul, and the Mokpo-Seoul drive taking seven hours and 40 minutes.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Sunday it will operate a joint traffic response headquarters with relevant agencies across the five days of Sept. 23-27. Shoulder use will be permitted for 64 sections of the expressway, spanning 374 kilometers, and 11 new sections of national highway spanning 71 kilometers will be open.

Ministry plans to exempt expressway tolls on Sept. 24-27 will be confirmed at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The price of gasoline will be cut by 100 won ($0.07) per liter during this period, at 226 gas stations managed by the Korea Expressway Corporation.