[Anchor]

Today is the final day of the four-day holiday. Major expressways across the country have experienced congestion as travelers head back home with lingering reluctance to leave. Let's connect with our reporter to check the current situation past 10:40 PM.

Reporter Im Jihyeon, has the congestion eased up by now?

[Reporter]

Yes, the return-trip congestion, which peaked around 4 PM to 5 PM, has now cleared up in most sections.

Starting from 10 PM, traffic volume on major expressways nationwide has decreased significantly, and the Seoul Toll Gate here is also relatively quiet.

As vehicles rushed back to Seoul from their hometowns on the final day of the holiday, the travel time from Busan to Seoul once peaked at over 6 hours earlier in the afternoon.

As of 10 PM, the estimated travel time has decreased to 4 and a half hours.

Travel times to Seoul are 3 hours and 20 minutes from Gwangju, 2 hours and 40 minutes from Gangneung, and 3 hours and 40 minutes from Mokpo, showing conditions that are largely no different from usual.

Let's take a look at the CCTV footage of major sections.

First is around the Anseong Junction on the Gyeongbu Expressway.

Vehicles in both directions are moving along at normal speeds without any disruptions to traffic flow.

Next is the Seopyeongtaek Junction on the Seohaean Expressway.

Traffic is flowing smoothly in both directions.

The Korea Expressway Corporation noted that many vehicles had already returned to Seoul the day before yesterday (the 25th), which was Chuseok day, and yesterday. Today, an estimated 5.24 million vehicles are expected to use the expressways, which is fewer than yesterday.

The Chuseok holiday toll exemption applies to vehicles that enter the expressways before midnight tonight.

Please don't forget to wear your seatbelts for a safe return home, and take intermediate breaks to prevent drowsy driving.

(Live reporting: Seo Jin-ho | Video editing: Ahn Yeo-jin)