Four in 10 adults call for increasing welfare spending: poll

SEOUL (Yonhap) - Four out of every 10 South Koreans believe that the nation's welfare benefits should be further expanded in consideration of the level of its economic development, a government poll released on Sunday showed.
In the survey of 1,000 adults conducted nationwide by the Ministry of Health and Welfare last year, 375 respondents said the nation's welfare level was low compared with its economic might.
Only 12.6 percent responded in the opposite way, with 49.9 percent saying the welfare level was appropriate, according to the results of the survey released by Rep. Joo Seung-yong of the main opposition Democratic Party.
The survey result was released amid a fierce bipartisan dispute over the volume of the nation's welfare spending, with opposition parties calling for increasing fiscal expenditures to offer greater welfare benefits to the entire population.
Over 33 percent of the respondents picked job creation as the government's top policy priority for ordinary people, followed by more support for low-income people (27.3 percent) and expanded medical care support (13.8 percent).