Income gap between urban, rural households widens in 2010

SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- The income gap between urban and rural households widened in the past two decades, a development that could pose social problems for the country, a government report said Sunday. The report, submitted to the National Assembly by the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, showed the average rural farming family earning an average of 32.12 million won (US$28,900) last year, compared to 48.09 million for an urban household. This translates into rural households making only 66.8 percent of the wages of their counterparts in cities, worsening sharply compared to 97.2 percent tallied for 1990. Such developments could pose serious problems for national cohesion and need to be addressed by the government down the road. The report, forwarded to Rep. Kim Yung-rok ahead of the parliamentary audit planned for this week, said that the income inequity between urban and fishing households improved in the past decade. It said the average household engaged in the fishing business earned 36.69 million won last year, or roughly 74.2 percent of what city households made. These are better numbers than 65.9 percent reported for 2000, the latest findings showed.