Ongoing heavy snow causes flight cancellations during Seollal holiday

South Korea is seeing heavy snow this Seollal holiday, causing numerous flight and ferry cancellations, as well as road accidents across the nation.

Our Lee Soo-jin starts us off.

Heavy snow is blanketing South Korea this Seollal holiday.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on Tuesday, heavy snow warnings have been issued across the nation including for the cities of Daejeon and Sejong, and for Gyeonggi-do, Gangwon-do, and Jeollabuk-do provinces.

A heavy snow warning is issued when snowfall is forecast to exceed 20 centimeters over a 24-hour period.

As of 12 PM on Tuesday, the snowfall accumulated since midnight on January 27th in certain districts in Seoul has reached nearly 16 centimeters. Meanwhile, more than 40 centimeters was seen in Jincheon-gun County situated in the central part of the country.

The heavy snow has led to the cancellation of one-hundred-eleven flights as of 11 AM, including 68 at Incheon Airport and 16 at Jeju Airport.

And passenger ferry services for 96 vessels on 73 routes including those between Yeosu City and Geomundo Island have faced disruptions.

The Korea Railroad Corporation, also announced that KTX trains on certain lines will be operating at reduced speeds for safety on Tuesday.

And not only is the snow expected to persist, but the subzero temperatures are likely to cause it to freeze.

On Wednesday, the actual day of Seollal, morning temperatures are forecast to reach minus seven degrees, with feels-like temperatures falling to minus 12 degrees.

With the ongoing heavy snowfall, there have been numerous traffic accidents.

At around 9 PM on Monday, a van fell off the roadside in Yeongwol County in Gangwon-do Province, and earlier that day, there was a vehicle collision on an expressway heading towards the city of Gangneung, injuring nine people who had to be transported to hospital.

And on Tuesday at 11:40 AM, a bus collided with a cargo truck on the Honam Expressway, a major expressway that runs through the southwest of the country, injuring six people.

Lee Soo-jin, Arirang News.