Highway traffic levels ease on last day of Lunar New Year holiday

Traffic levels on major highways eased Monday as people who visited their families during the Lunar New Year holiday returned home on the final day of the four-day holiday.

A drive from Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to the capital was expected to take about five hours as of 5 p.m., while driving from Gwangju, 267 km south of the capital, to Seoul was expected to take three hours and 30 minutes, according to the state-run Korea Expressway Corp.

The drive in the opposite direction from Seoul to Busan was estimated to take 4 hours and 30 minutes and from the capital to Gwangju to take 3 hours and 30 minutes.

It estimated 4.2 million cars would hit the road Monday, 950,000 vehicles less than the previous day. (Yonhap)