The yearly exodus of South Koreans went into full swing Saturday with Seoulites traveling to hometowns across the nation for the Chuseok or the Korean thanksgiving holiday, which lasts until next Wednesday.

The Korea Highway Corporation said some 310,000 vehicles left Seoul for the provincial areas on Friday, predicting 330,000 more to leave on both Saturday and Sunday. The authorities forecast that this year's long holiday strech will somewhat dilute the traffic congestion over the five-day period.

The nation's major bus terminals, train stations, ports and airports were already crowded from Friday afternoon. As most tickets had already been sold out, those looking for last-minute buys had endure waits in line of two or three hours.

Seoul Station, experiencing its first major holiday since the KTX bullet train began service, was also highly crowded. An official there said 57,000 passengers had passed through the station on Friday, notably higher than the 40,000 that use the station on a typical day. The official projected some 68,000 would follow on Saturday. Due to the KTX service, rail transportation capacity this year is expected to soar by 109 percent from last year.

The nation's airports have also increased flights to accomodate the increased number of outbound fliers, traveling either to their hometowns or on an overseas trip.