A group of ethnic Koreans in Russia kicked off their road trip to South Korea to mark the 150th anniversary of the first Korean immigration to Russia.

A total of 23 drivers in the Russia-Korea 2014 International Rally left Moscow on Monday.

The participants will drive about a 15,000-kilometer-long distance reversing the immigration route for Koreans, taking them from Russia through Central Asia to the Koreas for a month and a half.

The team is scheduled to reach North Korea by early August. They will then cross the military demarcation line on August 15 and end their journey in Busan, a southeastern port city of South Korea.

The drivers who started out in Moscow will be joined by additional participants as they pass through cities in Russia and Central Asia.