SEOUL, Traffic on major highways was expected to build up Monday as people were heading back to Seoul on the final day of the four-day Lunar New Year holiday.

A drive from Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, to the capital was expected to take about five hours and 40 minutes as of 9 a.m., while driving from Gwangju, 267 km south of the capital, to Seoul was expected to take four hours and 30 minutes, according to the state-run Korea Expressway Corp.

The drive in the opposite direction from Seoul to Busan was estimated to take 4 hours and 40 minutes and from the capital to Gwangju to take 3 hours and 20 minutes.

Korea Expressway said traffic toward Seoul was expected to start building up at 10-11 a.m., with traffic congestion reaching its peak at about 3-4 p.m., before easing at 11 p.m. to midnight.

It estimated 4.2 million cars would hit the road Monday, 950,000 vehicles less than the previous day.

Source: Yonhap News Agency