Millions of Koreans head to hometowns for Chuseok holiday

The annual exodus for Chuseok began Friday with millions of Koreans heading to their hometowns in advance of the start of the traditional holiday this weekend.

Chuseok, or the Korean Thanksgiving holiday, is one of the country's two major traditional holidays that, together with the Lunar New Year season, see families getting together in their hometowns to pay tribute to ancestors and visit their graves in a gesture of gratitude.

It is celebrated on Aug. 15 of the lunar calendar, which falls on Sunday this year.

About 29.25 million people are expected to visit their hometowns by car, bus, train or plane, according to the government.

Though the holiday period is shorter than in past years -- three days from Saturday, travelers are likely to experience better traffic conditions than the usual holiday traffic nightmares, as the national foundation day, also a holiday, falls on Wednesday, according to the land ministry.

Highway traffic was running relatively smoothly as of 2 p.m. on Friday, according to the state-run expressway operator. It takes about three hours to travel from Seoul to Daejeon, some 150 kilometers south of the capital, and an average of five hours and 50 minutes from the capital city to the southern port city of Busan, it added.

"As the exodus began in earnest around 3 p.m., highway traffic is expected to become more congested later in the day, and the congestion will continue well into tomorrow," said an official of the Korea Expressway Corp.

The government decided to add extra trains, buses, and air and sea carriers to provide holiday travelers with safety and convenience, but homecoming crowds flooded public transportation, with tickets for rail and bus services almost sold out, according to their operators.

Domestic flights linking Seoul with provincial cities are mostly booked up for the holidays, according to the two major flagship air carriers: Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.

Around 572,705 people are expected to use Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to the capital city, and most of them will embark on an overseas trip during the holiday period, the airport officials said, adding the number is up about 8 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)