Highways have been congested in parts of the country as people hit the roads on the first day of the four-day Lunar New Year holiday on Friday.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, as of 10 a.m., the estimated travel time from Seoul to Busan was eight hours.

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

It expects traffic congestion that began Thursday to peak between 11 a.m. and noon, and slowly ease after 8 p.m.

Over half a million vehicles are expected to travel around the country on Friday, with some 490-thousand leaving the metropolitan region to non-capital areas.

During the four-day holiday, expressway toll fees are lifted. The government has also expanded roads into the shoulder in 71 sections across the country's highways.