SEOUL-- Major highways nationwide saw traffic jams Wednesday, as people headed home after spending time with their loved ones or finishing trips on the last day of the Lunar New Year's holiday.

This year's Lunar New Year holiday ran from Monday to Wednesday and was extended by two days due to the preceding weekend.

As of 12:21 p.m., traffic on sections of the Gyeongbu Expressway linking Seoul and the southeastern city of Busan were snarled up, while congestion was also seen in parts of the inland expressway linking Yangpyeong near the capital to the southeastern city of Changwon, according to Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC).

As of 1 p.m., the expected travel time to reach Seoul was 5 hours and 40 minutes from the southeastern city of Busan, 4 hours and 10 minutes from the southwestern city of Gwangju, 4 hours and 40 minutes from the southeastern city of Daegu and 2 hours and 40 minutes from the northeastern city of Gangneung, according to KEC.

Traffic on the way back to Seoul is expected to peak at around 4-5 p.m. and ease at around 10-11 p.m.

The traffic authorities estimated that 4.28 million vehicles will hit the road nationwide Wednesday, with 460,000 traveling back to the greater Seoul area from provincial regions and 330,000 vice versa.

Source: Yonhap News Agency