Deputy minister vows to push for 62,000 public housing ground-breakings in Greater Seoul this year

"Since a large portion of the planned ground-breakings are concentrated in the fourth quarter, we will manage each site closely to push starts as high as possible," Kim said.

First Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim I-tak made the pledge Friday afternoon at the third public housing supply task force meeting, where officials reviewed ground-breaking progress on public housing in the Greater Seoul area and assessed efforts to meet the year-end target.

The remarks came as the government has mounted a broad push to accelerate housing supply, with officials stressing that execution matters more than planning. Prime Minister Han Seong-sook, who chaired the third cross-ministry rapid housing supply review meeting on Wednesday, said she would "follow through until housing supply plans translate into actual ground-breakings and move-ins." Land Minister Hong Ji-seon, for his part, visited the Bucheon Daejang district after taking office and said "execution is more important than planning in housing supply," calling for a faster pace on the third-generation new town projects.

The task force meeting was attended by Korea Land and Housing Corporation, Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation, Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Development Corporation and Incheon Urban Corporation.

At the meeting, ground-breakings on public housing in the Greater Seoul area were provisionally tallied at 17,000 units through the third quarter. Officials projected that starting more than 60,000 additional units by year-end would allow the government to largely meet its annual target of 62,000 units. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the participating corporations agreed to concentrate all available resources on achieving the goal in the time remaining.

The units to be broken ground on by year-end include 45,000 public housing units, along with newly purchased and privately redeveloped homes. Kim ordered officials to "closely monitor ground-breaking readiness and schedules for each project and swiftly advance the necessary procedures, including permits and construction procurement."

The meeting also reviewed preparations for next year's ground-breaking targets. Officials set a public-sector goal of about 84,000 units and agreed to continuously track progress from the pre-construction stages — land compensation and site preparation — while resolving project-specific delays in advance to secure the target volume.

Kim said it was critical to accelerate supply in the remaining months "so that the units planned for housing stability can actually move into the ground-breaking stage." He added that while positive signals had emerged — with permits and ground-breakings in Seoul each rising more than 40 percent from a year earlier — officials should not let their guard down and must closely monitor both public and private housing supply "and give it everything until the very end."