South Korea plans to raise its budget for welfare programs by more than 10 percent in 2015 from a year earlier in an effort to establish a better social safety net and revitalize the economy, the government and ruling party said Wednesday.
"The burden for the low-income bracket has been soaring due to the slowed economic recovery," a Saenuri Party official said. "To ease such agony, we plan to raise the welfare budget by over 10 percent to between 118 trillion won (US$115.12 billion) and 120 trillion won."
   The increased rate for the welfare budget will hover far above the 5 percent rise slated for the combined state expenditure estimated for next year. It will also mark the first time since 2009 that the government has increased the welfare budget at a two-digit rate.