Clear weather expected to increase highway traffic, with Busan-to-Seoul trip taking 4 hours 50 minutes

Mostly clear skies across South Korea on Sunday are expected to send more vehicles onto the highways, with traffic toward the capital likely to be the main trouble spot.

The Korea Expressway Corporation forecasts 4.88 million vehicles nationwide. About 450,000 vehicles are expected to travel from the provinces into the Seoul metropolitan area, while 400,000 are expected to leave the capital region for other parts of the country.

Congestion in the Seoul-bound direction is expected to begin around 10 to 11 a.m. and reach its worst point between 3 and 4 p.m. Traffic should ease between 9 and 10 p.m. The Yeongdong Expressway and the Seoul-Yangyang Expressway are expected to see especially slow-moving traffic, while roads heading away from the capital should remain generally clear.

As of 10 a.m., estimated travel times to Seoul included 4 hours 50 minutes from Busan, 3 hours 50 minutes from Daegu, 3 hours 20 minutes from Gwangju, 1 hour 40 minutes from Daejeon, 2 hours 40 minutes from Gangneung, 4 hours 30 minutes from Ulsan, and 4 hours 10 minutes from Mokpo to West Seoul.