The nation's highways are heavily congested on Saturday as South Koreans head to their hometowns for the Chuseok holidays.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation(KEC), as of 2 p.m., the expected travel time from Seoul to Busan was six hours, while it was four hours and 40 minutes from Seoul to Gwangju, and two hours and 40 minutes from Seoul to Daejeon.

The KEC projected some 420-thousand vehicles to depart from the capital region.

Traffic congestion peaked around noon and will start to ease in the evening, between 8 and 9 p.m.