Koreans all over the country are participating in the largest exodus of the year to spend the Lunar New Year holiday this week with loved ones, taking advantage of the mild temperatures.

“I’m beyond the age of being excited about Seollal but it will be nice to see my relatives and we always have fun during the trip,” said Kwon Ji-won, a 26-year-old piano teacher in Seoul, headed for Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Wednesday.

“It normally takes about two hours to get to Gangneung but it’ll probably take five hours Wednesday.”

During the five-day holiday that starts Wednesday, a daily average of 3.48 million cars ― a 2.1 percent increase from a year ago ― is expected to take to the expressways across the country, according to the Korea Expressway Corporation.

The KEC anticipates that during the peak of the holiday period Thursday, the car journey between Seoul and Busan will take a maximum of eight hours and 20 minutes, five hours and 10 minutes between Seoul and Daejeon, and seven hours and 30 minutes between Seoul and Gwangju.

In the Seoul metropolitan area, an average of 650,000 cars per day, a 1.1 percent increase from the previous year, is expected to travel.

Anticipating the recent phenomena of reverse exodus, where parents choose to visit their children in the capital, Seoul has dispatched an extra 16,000 taxis on the streets.

From Friday to Sunday, subways and 3,220 buses on 166 routes will also run till 2 a.m. the next day.

The Emergency Medical Information Center (1339) will be open 24 hours during the holidays to provide information on the 470 hospitals and 1,820 pharmacies open in Seoul throughout the week.

The nation will also continue to see the much welcomed spell of warm weather over the holiday with temperatures peaking at seven degrees Celsius, said the Korea Meteorological Administration.

Starting from Tuesday, there will be an inflow of warm air from the west bringing temperatures closer to average, slowly raising the temperature throughout the week, according to the KMA,

On Wednesday morning, the temperature is expected to dip down to minus three degrees Celsius, while the daytime high is forecast to reach six degrees Celsius in Seoul.

On Thursday, morning lows will be minus two degrees Celsius in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, minus six degrees Celsius in Gangwon Province and zero degree Celsius in Busan.

Daytime highs will continue to lift the cold spell with Thursday’s temperatures at an average of 6 degrees Celsius throughout Gyeonggi Province and Busan enjoying springtime at 10 degrees Celsius.

“It looks as though temperatures will recover to meet and exceed the average during the Seollal holiday period,” a KMA official said.

For more information on transportation and other matters please call the Dasan Call Center at (02) 120.

By Robert Lee (rjmlee@heraldcorp.com)