Golden Holiday Rush: How 6.05 Million Vehicles Jammed South Korea’s Highways on May 1st

Translation result

On the first day of the “golden holiday” bridging Labor Day and Children’s Day, people across the country poured outdoors to enjoy a bright, spring day.

Highways and major roads were snarled from early morning, and airports bustled with both Koreans flying abroad and foreign tourists arriving. Mountains, parks and theme parks around the country were packed with visitors.

The Korea Expressway Corporation estimated about 6.05 million vehicle trips that day and warned travel from the Seoul tollgate to Busan could take as long as 9 hours and 10 minutes. In worst-case congestion, it projected up to 7 hours 30 minutes to Gwangju, 8 hours 10 minutes to Mokpo and 6 hours 20 minutes to Gangneung.

The corporation expected traffic heading away from Seoul to ease around 9–10 p.m. and traffic toward Seoul to clear around 10–11 p.m.

As of 6 p.m., backups included 21㎞ near Anseong–Cheonan on the Gyeongbu Expressway toward Busan, 12㎞ near the Independence Hall–Oksan Junction, and 26㎞ between Namcheongju and the Biryong Junction. On the Jungbu Naeryuk Expressway, congestion stretched about 27㎞ from the Yeonpung Tunnel area to the Mungyeong rest area, and roughly 10㎞ from the Yeoju Junction to the Gamgok area.

Airports are expected to stay busy with international travelers throughout the holiday. The aviation industry forecasts that roughly 1.3 million passengers (departures and arrivals combined) will pass through Incheon International Airport over the six-day period from the previous day through the 5th.

That averages about 217,000 passengers per day, above Incheon’s typical daily traffic of roughly 200,000.

Theme parks across the country also drew big crowds. Online communities shared photos and videos showing Everland in Yongin packed with family groups and day-trippers.

Hiking spots were crowded too. A surge of hikers on Gwanaksan in Seoul prompted warnings from nearby Gwacheon and Anyang in Gyeonggi Province. Anyang said a large crowd had gathered around the Yeonjudae area near the summit, raising safety concerns, and urged people to avoid entering the mountain; those who do hike were asked to be especially careful.