the few days leading to the 2nd most revered holiday (after ThanksGiving) in Korea saw snow a many times . capping today with much snow on the whole Peninsula except the warmer South-East (DaeGu-Taegu and Busan-Pusan).
South Korea has distinct 4 Seasons and does snow regularly in the Winter with unbearably hot Summers, especially in the Capital of Seoul, although to a lesser extreme than Manhattan .
yes, snow in prime 3-day holiday is a joyous occasion, especially since it overlaps in the weekend making it a Golden Week (Japanese expression) with 4-day holiday if your company is off on Saturdays (current trend where some companies take alternate staff off). good, for those more modern “new” couples & families who opt to take care of traditional cemetery visits a week in advance and take off now to the Eastern ski slopes .
but the only catch in making this a nightmare, is that the whole population becomes mobile during these 2 major holiday Seasons . as the Capital of Seoul is stacked-up with people from all corners of the Peninsula, they head back home to pay traditional respects to parents and ancestors come holiday Season . well then, WHY take the car, when the belated KTX bullet train adds to alternative modes of bus and planes ? first : it is cheaper to put all members of the family in a car, and more so, a car is the sign of success in modern day Korea, thus the urge to show off back home that you’ve “made it” out there 😉
FYI : any points within South Korea can be driven mostly on HighWays within 6 hours, but drags-on on such traffic-prone holidays for over 2~3 times more .
although I myself personally Love the quiet solitude in city centers (where the whole city is barred by traffic mid-week) during this Season, Merry & Happy~ everyone
