High-income earners live mainly in capital area

Around seven out of 10 high-wage earners with an annual salary of more than 100 million won ($83 200) live in the capital area, data showed Sunday.

According to a report from Statistics Korea, which was submitted to Rep. Park Myung-jae of the ruling Saenuri Party, there were 473,217 people who were reported as high-wage earners in 2013.

Among them, 46.7 percent lived in Seoul, followed by 22.6 percent living in Gyeonggi Province and 2.8 percent in Incheon, making up almost 70 percent of all high-wage earners in the country.

Around 18.5 percent lived in the nation’s southeastern region of Yeongnam with 5.6 percent in Ulsan, 3.8 percent in Busan, 3.6 percent in South Gyeongsang Province and 2.8 percent in North Gyeongsang Province.

Meanwhile, 6.2 percent lived in the central Chungcheong area and 4.1 percent in the southwestern area of Honam.

Park said that the data represents a regional imbalance as most major corporations and high-earning individuals are concentrated in the capital area, and called for more viable workplaces in other regions.