Heavy Snow Causes Inconvenience Around Seoul

Heavy snow fell in the Seoul metropolitan area and Gangwon Province yesterday, with some roads in Seoul closed and flight operations disrupted in the morning.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said Seoul got 6.8 centimeters of snow; Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province 5.7 centimeters; Munsan also in Gyeonggi Province 8.1 centimeters; Incheon 6.8 centimeters; Daegwanryeong 63.2 centimeters; and Sokcho in Gangwon Province 13 centimeters.

“Yeongdong (eastern part of Gangwon Province) and certain mountainous areas of Gangwon Province are expected to have heavy snow until Friday,” the weather agency said.

Yeongdong and mountainous areas in Gangwon will get an additional 10-30 centimeters of snow; the northern region of North Gyeongsang Province 3-10 centimeters; and the west coast of Gyeonggi and the Chungcheong provinces 1-5 centimeters.

This could mean big inconvenience to those visiting their hometowns over the Lunar New Year’s holidays this weekend.

Due to the heavy snow, 16 flights were canceled and the arrival and departure of some 130 flights were delayed at Gimpo and Incheon airports.

In addition, the delivery of Lunar New Year gifts by department stores was interrupted.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency issued a traffic emergency order yesterday morning and sent 1,500 traffic officers to some 340 major intersections to ensure smooth traffic flow.

The Korea Expressway Corp. mobilized around 500 snow plows on expressways and roads near toll gates from the morning. “Snow stopped in the Seoul metropolitan area in the afternoon and the weather is relatively warm, so less traffic congestion will be caused by frozen snow,” it said.

sys1201@donga.com