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Socioeconomic polarization is a major problem in Korea, and as our Ji Myung-kil reports,
it's not getting any easier for Koreans to step out of poverty. Korean conglomerates
like Samsung and Hyundai makes billions of dollars in operating profits and Korea has
a GDP of more than 1 trillion dollars with a per capita GDP of more than 20-thousand
dollars.
But have these figures made a difference in the lives of ordinary Koreans?
Many Koreans would say no.
"My salary hasn't increased much and it's hard to live."
"My salary is the same but my electricity, water and gas bills are always going up."
"My business isn't paying off."
A new report from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on Monday shows
it is becoming harder for Koreans to move up the socioeconomic ladder.
The poverty exit rate was around 35 percent from 2005 to 2006, and dropped to around 31
percent from 2008 to 2009, meaning that the number of people in the lowest income bracket
who were able to escape the grip of poverty shrank during the four-year period.
In the same four-year period, Koreans were entering the poverty class.. at a rate of
between 6 and 7 percent.
Today, Korea has the biggest gap between capital income and household income in the OECD and
experts say that although big companies are making record-breaking profits it does very
little to raise income levels or create jobs for the average Korean.
Ji Myung-kil, Arirang News.