Expressways to and from the capital South Korean Seoul were packed with vehicles early Sunday as residents continued to head for thier hometowns on the second day of the traditional thanksgiving holiday.

Transportation authorities said traffic congestion on major highways linking Seoul and other major regional cities may worsen in the evening and continue until midnight.

A road trip from Seoul to the southern port city of Busan, about 453 kilometers southeast of the capital, took approximately five hours and 40 minutes while from Busan to Seoul required more than six hours driving as of late Sunday morning, the transportation authorities said.

Chuseok, the Korean harvest festival that falls on Sunday, is one of the country's two major traditional holidays that, together with the Lunar New Year season, draw families to their hometowns to pay tribute to their ancestors and honor their predecessors' graves.

Around 430,000 buses and cars may depart from Seoul on Sunday while about 370,000 vehicles are expected to head back to the capital from other cities, the authorities noted.

(Yonhap News)