Traffic congestion continues on expressways in parts of the country as people hit the roads on the first day of the four-day Lunar New Year holiday on Saturday.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 1 p.m., the estimated travel time from Seoul to Busan was six hours and 40 minutes, more than an hour less than estimations earlier in the day.

The corporation projected travel time of over seven hours from Seoul to Ulsan, six hours and thirty minutes to Daegu, over four hours and thirty minutes to Gwangju, and nearly four hours to Gangneung.

The corporation said it expects the traffic congestion to ease after 8 or 9 p.m.

Half a million vehicles are expected to leave the capital area while some 360 thousand will travel into the metropolitan region from non-capital areas on Saturday.
 
During the holiday, expressway toll fees are lifted and bus-only lanes will operate for an additional four hours from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. the following day.