Heavy snow blankets South Korea on Lunar New Year

Heavy snow blanketed South Korea for the second consecutive day Tuesday, disrupting transportation services and causing traffic congestion for people heading to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday, Yonhap reports.

As of 4 p.m., 130 centimeters had piled up on Mount Halla on the southern resort island of Jeju since Monday, while some counties in the eastern province of Gangwon had 40 cm of snow over the same period. Cities of Anseong and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, about 60 kilometers south of Seoul, had received about 25 cm of snow. In Seoul, the southwestern ward of Gwanak had 13.7 cm of snow.

For Wednesday, the Korea Meteorological Administration forecast an additional 5 to 15 cm of snow in the mountainous areas of Jeju and about 5 to 10 cm of snow in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces.

Several regions have been placed under cold wave warnings, with the morning lows expected to sit around minus 15 C in parts of Gangwon Province on the east coast.

The heavy snow led to car accidents across the nation Tuesday, while a light-rail train operating in Yongin, south of Seoul, was disrupted for 2 1/2 hours before resuming service at 11:10 a.m.

In Jeju, major roads crossing Mount Halla were fully closed.

A total of 111 flights were canceled at airports across the nation as of 11 a.m., including 68 that were due to leave from the country's main international airport in Incheon, west of Seoul, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

Fishing vessels and passenger ships connecting islands to inland ports were also suspended, causing inconvenience for those traveling to their hometowns.

Some KTX high-speed train services were running slower than usual for passenger safety amid heavy snow and cold weather, the railway operator said.

The affected train lines are the Gyeongbu, Honam, Gangneung and central services, according to the Korea Railroad Corp.

The entrances to 20 national parks across the country were also cordoned off for safety, officials said.

Earlier it was reported that heavy snow and rain were forecast to affect many parts of South Korea on Monday during the extended Lunar New Year holiday, prompting authorities to raise the weather alert and brace for possible disruptions.