Seoul, Oct 9 (IANS) Major expressways across South Korea were congested on Thursday as people returned home on the final day of the extended Chuseok holiday.
This year’s weeklong extended holiday runs through Thursday, as Chuseok, which fell on Monday this year, connects with two national holidays — National Foundation Day on October 3 and Hangeul Day on October 9, which marks the creation of the Korean alphabet, Yonhap news agency reported.
As of 9 a.m., travel times to Seoul were estimated at 6 hours and 40 minutes from the southeastern city of Busan, 4 hours and 10 minutes from the southwestern city of Gwangju, and three hours from the eastern coastal city of Gangneung, according to the Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC).
A total of 5.13 million vehicles were forecast to move across the country on Thursday, including 400,000 leaving the Seoul metropolitan area for other provinces and 390,000 heading toward Seoul from other regions.
On Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung reaffirmed his pledge to focus on improving people’s livelihoods, a day after the nation celebrated the Chuseok holiday.
“With a humble heart, I promise again that I will more carefully look after the people’s present and the future of their livelihoods,” Lee wrote on Instagram as he shared photos of himself and first lady Kim Hea Kyung in traditional Korean attire to mark the nation’s fall harvest festival.
He said he would commit to such efforts even if it could mean putting important things on the line or risking finger-pointing and misunderstanding.
Lee’s comments come as South Korea and the United States are currently undergoing tariff negotiations.
It also came after the main opposition People Power Party criticised his appearance last night on JTBC’s cooking show “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator,” where he promoted Korean cuisine.
The recording of the episode featuring Lee and his wife took place amid an outage of online government services due to a fire at a state data centre late last month.
–IANS
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