A South Korean team of officials and experts returned home Monday after the two Koreas completed their 18-day joint survey of railways along North Korea's east and west coast.

The Unification Ministry said that the 28-member delegation, who entered the North on December eighth to inspect the eastern rail line connecting Mount Geumgang and the Tumen River crossed the border by bus at around 1:40 p.m.

As part of Seoul and Pyongyang's agreement in April to reconnect their railways and roads, the two sides had carried out a survey of the North's western rail line from Gaeseong to Sinuiju earlier this month.

The two Koreas are set to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the road and railway connection project at Panmun Station, just north of the inter-Korean border on December 26th.