Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Economic inequality grows in Korea
.jpg?w=728)
High-rise apartments in the upscale Gangnam area and redevelopment districts in Gangbuk / Korea Times file
By Kim Bo-eun
The gap between Korea's rich and poor is widening, a recent report shows.
According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs' "Statistical Yearbook of Poverty 2015," the Gini coefficient for 2014 has either remained the same or grown from a year earlier, both in income and expenditure.
The Gini coefficient, developed by Italian statistician Corrado Gini, is the most commonly used measure of inequality. Zero represents perfect equality and one maximal inequality.
The Gini coefficient for market income for 2014 stood at 0.331, a 0.003 rise from a year earlier.
The figure for consumption in 2014 rose to 0.262, by 0.008 from 2013.
The figures for both income and expenditure represent the growing inequality.