The Great Migration: Holiday Homecoming and Grave Visits민족 대이동: 명절 귀성과 성묘

Twice a year, at Seollal and Chuseok, South Korea stages one of the world's densest short-distance migrations. During the 2025 Chuseok special transport period, the government projected about 32.18 million passenger trips, with 9.33 million people moving on Chuseok day alone — in a country of 51 million. Around 85% travel by car, so a Seoul–Busan drive that normally takes 4–5 hours can stretch far longer, and news channels broadcast live traffic maps like weather reports.

Why does everyone move at once? Because the holidays are anchored to place: the family's eldest household, and the ancestral graves. Families hold charye at the eldest son's home, then visit graves (seongmyo) to bow and tidy the site; before Chuseok, relatives gather for beolcho, mowing the grass around ancestral tombs. Industrialization pulled millions from hometowns into Seoul within a generation — so the holidays pull them back.

The state mobilizes for it: extended trains and buses, expanded highway shoulder lanes, and toll-free expressway days around the holiday. Rest stops (hyugeso) become festivals of walnut cakes and udon at 2 a.m. For travelers, the migration is also an opportunity: Seoul empties out, palaces are calm and often free, and city traffic evaporates — as long as you don't try to ride the wave between cities on the peak days.