[Anchor]
The nation's expressways across the country are heavily congested on this Lunar New Year's day, as millions of South Koreans are either heading to or returning from their hometowns.
Today is forecast to be the busiest day of the extended four-day holiday in terms of traffic.
Sehhyeong Kim reports.
[Reporter]
Cars are backed up in both directions in and out of the capital region.
Congestion is expected to build up further as the day progresses before reaching its peak at around 3 p.m.
The Korea Expressway Corporation estimates some 6 million vehicles to hit the roads nationwide throughout the day.
Some 480 thousand vehicles are expected to leave the Seoul metropolitan area today alone, while the same number of cars are estimated to be heading back into the capital.
Seoul-bound expressways are expected to ease around 2 or 3 a.m tomorrow, while delays will let up at around 11 p.m. or midnight in the opposite direction.
As for the current estimated drive time, it will take 8 hours from Seoul to Busan, 5 hours 40 minutes to reach Gwangju and 4 hours to Gangneung.
The traffic heading back to Seoul is also heavily congested with the estimated time from Busan being 8 hours, from Daejeon 3 hours 20 minutes, and from Daegu 6 hours 30 minutes.
All expressways across the country will be toll-free until tomorrow.
Sehhyeong Kim, eFM News.■
<Photo: Yonhap News>
