South Korean Prime Minister Han Seong-sook pledged Saturday to expand financial and policy support for development projects in order to boost housing supply.

Han made the remarks during a visit to the site of a new-homes development project in Seoul's Seongbuk district, accompanied by a ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker and Seongbuk District Mayor Lee Seung-ro. The visit came as the government has pledged to supply more than 230,000 additional homes in the Seoul metropolitan area.

During the inspection of the development site in northern Seoul, Han emphasized that a speedy supply of new homes is important to stabilizing the property market. She also asked related agencies to use every available means to help construction projects break ground as early as possible.

Housing supply in the greater Seoul area has long been a central policy concern in South Korea, where demand for homes in the capital region consistently outstrips supply. Roughly half of the country's population lives in the Seoul capital area, which concentrates jobs, education, and transport infrastructure and keeps pressure on home prices and household debt high.

Successive governments have relied on redevelopment and reconstruction projects in older Seoul districts, as well as new town development in surrounding areas, to expand supply and cool property prices. How quickly the pledged 230,000-plus homes move from announcement to actual groundbreaking will be a key measure of whether the latest supply push translates into a more stable property market.