S. Korea's expressways clogged for Seol holiday
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- Major Seoul-bound expressways across South Korea were congested Sunday as people returned from the Lunar New Year's holiday.
Rain or snow in many areas worsened traffic jams.
Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans spent a few days in their hometowns for Lunar New Year's Day, which fell on Saturday this year.
Called Seol in Korean, it's one of the largest annual celebrations for Koreans, many of whom visit their hometowns to get together with relatives and pay respect to their ancestors. This year's four-day Seol holiday ends on Monday.
Around 4.1 million automobiles are expected to use the nation's expressways on Sunday alone, according to the Korea Expressway (EX) Corp.
Among them, 460,000 will likely enter Seoul or nearby Geyonggi Province, it added.
Hitting the road from the southern city of Busan, it took nearly six hours to get to Seoul.
"Traffic volume is expected to thin out as time goes by. But a problem is snow and rain in the central province and Gangwon Province," an EX official said. "The traffic situation is likely to return to normal after midnight."
lcd@yna.co.kr
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