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.