Jayuro as viewed from Odusan Observatory

The Jayu Motorway (also called Jayu-ro, ko, 자유로, lit. Freedom Road) is a major north–south arterial highway in South Korea. Its southern terminus is in Seoul, while its northern terminus is at National Route 1's Reunification Bridge leading into the DMZ. North Korea is visible from a section of the highway stretching from Seongdong-ri to Ogeum-ri. Its shape closely parallels the northern bank of the Han River and is heavily fortified with barbed wire and military observatories. It is part of National Route 77. This route connects Seoul (

Gayang Bridge The Gayang Bridge crosses the Han River in South Korea and connects the Gangseo District and Mapo District. The bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without block ...

Goyang Goyang (''Goyang-si''; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Capital Area, with a populatio ...

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Ilsan Ilsan New Town refers to a planned city occupying Ilsandong-gu and Ilsanseo-gu of Goyang. Ilsan is located northwest of Seoul. Like other satellite cities in the Seoul National Capital Area such as Bundang, Ilsan was planned in order to alleviat ...

) to

Paju Paju () is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Paju was made a city in 1997; it had previously been a county (''gun''). The city area of Paju is ,"Paju (Gyeonggi-do Province)." ''Naver Encyclopedia of Knowledge''. Naver, 2015. 4 Mar. 2016. ...

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Munsan Munsan is a town of Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies on the south bank of the Imjin River, close to the edge of the Demilitarized Zone and near Panmunjom and the Joint Security Area. History Munsan has a heavy military presence beca ...

Panmunjeom Panmunjom, also known as Panmunjeom, now located in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea or Kaesong, North Hwanghae Province, North Korea, was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between North Korea, North and South Korea, where the ...

), with a total length of . The highway is directly connected with the

Gangbyeonbuk-ro The Gangbyeon Expressway ( ko, 강변북로) is an eight-lane highway located in Seoul, South Korea. It is part of National Route 46 and National Route 77. This route connects Seoul to Namyangju, with a total length of . The highway is di ...

History

* May 19, 1990 - Construction Begin * August, 1992 - Haengju Bridge~

Tongil observatory Korean reunification () is the potential reunification of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea into a single Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification was started by the June 15th North–South Jo ...

section(29 km) opens to traffic. * September, 1994 - Tongil observatory~Jayu Bridge(자유의다리) section(17.5 km) opens to traffic.

Compositions

Lanes

* Dangdong IC ~ Jayu IC: 4 * Nakha IC - Dangdong IC: 6 * Nakha IC - Isanpo JC: 8 * Gayang Bridge - Isanpo JC: 10

Length

Speed limits

* 90 km/h

List of facilities

* IC: Interchange, JC: Junction, SA: Service Area, TG:Tollgate

Jayuro Ghost

The highway is also notable for its variant of the vanishing hitchhiker called the Jayuro Ghost. The area frequently experiences foggy weather and thus has a high rate of automobile collisions. According to the narrative, a woman can sometimes be seen along the side of the road wearing sunglasses. Upon closer inspection it is revealed that the so-called sunglasses are actually the woman's gouged-out eyes. Another version of the narrative has a driver picking up the ghost, only for the ghost to direct the driver to a cemetery or disappear when the driver reaches the destination. The Dark Side of Seoul Podcast released a video episode about this urban legend and other road-related Korean folklore.