A group of South Korean officials and experts departed for North Korea on Monday for a joint inspection of roads in the North's western regions. 
 
About ten officials left for North Korea at around 8:30 a.m. and will return at 5 p.m. after checking the road conditions on a four-kilometer section in Gaeseong along the western Gyeongui Line. 

The inspection will be carried out without survey equipment unlike in a previous joint inspection in August for the 160-kilometer section between Gaeseong and Pyongyang.

The delegation had inspected a 100-kilometer-long section on the eastern Donghae Line for three days from Friday and returned Sunday. 

The two Koreas are set to hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday in Gaeseong for a joint project to reconnect and modernize their railways and roads across the border.