36 mln S. Koreans going home for Lunar New Year
Xinhua, February 2, 2016 Adjust font size:
More than 36 million South Korean travelers are expected to return home in rural areas during the upcoming Lunar New Year festivities, Seoul's transport ministry said on Tuesday.
The number of people making it back to their family homes, mostly located south of the capital Seoul, is forecast to reach 36,450,000 during this year's New Year travel rush. South Korea has a population of around 50 million.
The Lunar New Year holiday falls on Feb. 8 this year that will open the Year of the Monkey. The transport ministry designated six days through Feb. 10 as a special period to strengthen the management of traffic.
An average daily move of people is estimated at 6.08 million during the six-day period, up 2.7 percent from the previous year.
Car traffic on the highway is estimated at 4.16 million vehicles per day, heralding a heavy traffic jam as seen before.
About a quarter of travelers is forecast to move to their rural homes in the morning on Feb. 7, while 27.1 percent is predicted to return back to Seoul in the afternoon on Feb. 8.
During the Lunar New Year holiday, as many as 7.9 million travelers are forecast to move to and from their family homes.
To ease traffic congestion from the country's biggest annual human migration, the transport ministry will increase the number of transport by express bus, passenger ferry, train and airplane during the holiday period. Enditem