Over 26 million people nationwide are expected to travel during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

According to the Korea Transport Institute, 26-point-48 million people are forecast to travel between Friday and next Tuesday, equivalent to roughly the population of the entire Seoul metropolitan area or over half of the country, for an average of about five-point-three million per day.

A substantial majority of 91-point-seven percent are expected to travel by car, while three-point-eight percent are predicted to ride the intercity bus, three percent trains and one-point-one percent airplanes.

The roads are expected to be most-heavily congested on Saturday morning as people head out of the capital region and on Monday afternoon when they return. Heavy traffic is also forecast for Sunday, Lunar New Year's Day.

The institute estimates that drivers heading from Seoul to Busan are likely to be on the road for about eight and a half hours or more, nearly double the average of roughly four and a half hours.

Between Friday and next Tuesday, the transport ministry will implement special measures to ensure safe and convenient holiday travel, such as expressway toll exemptions and extended operating hours of city buses and subways in major cities.