The state-owned Korea Land and Housing Corporation will purchase three-thousand unsold housing units to support the construction industry amid weak domestic demand.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok made the announcement Wednesday during a meeting on economic issues with relevant ministers in attendance.

Choi said the decline in construction orders outside the capital area is causing prolonged stagnation in investment and employment, as well as an increase in the number of homes that remain unsold after completion.

He also said the shrinking real estate market is delaying the recovery of the local economy.

As of the end of December, there were 21-thousand-480 homes that remained unsold after construction was completed, double the number from the previous year. 

Of these, 80 percent were outside the capital area.

Also, to boost investment outside Seoul, the government will pursue a four-point-three trillion won, or nearly three billion U.S. dollar, project to move railways underground in Busan, Daejeon and Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.