Using the Korea Welfare Panel Survey, this study explores the polarization of income, assets, and labor market participation by education level. The income gap between two groups of different education levels in the 1st income quintile increased from about 1.53 million won in 2006 to 4.094 million won in 2020; the gap in disposable income between the two education groups increased from about 1.01 million won to 5.316 million won in 2020. In the composition by education level within the same quintile, the proportion of those with less than a high school diploma in the quintile with low income and assets was higher than that of those with a college diploma or a higher degree. The high-income quintile has a high share of college graduates or higher, and there is a large gap by education level within the same quintile. In terms of education level, participation in major economic activities, and workplace size, there are differences by level of education even if participants participate in the same economic activity and the workplace size is within the same decile. The same is true in 2006 as well as in 2020. On the other hand, the gap between the low and high quintiles showed that market income increased over time while disposable income slightly decreased, suggesting that public transfers, taxes, and social insurance contributions had a positive effect on bridging the gap.

Labor polarization refers to trends in the labor market where the distribution of wages and employment stability decreases in the middle and expands at both ends. This article looks at labor polarization from the perspective of wage workers and examines their employment status and types of employment to understand the current situation and characteristics. The income gap between regular and non-regular employees has reduced in terms of hourly pay, but it has been expanding on a monthly basis. This can be attributed to the fact that non-regular workers have fewer working hours per week compared to regular workers. Unlike in the case of health insurance and employment insurance, when it came to the National Pension, there was a large difference in the participation rate between regular and non-regular employees.

As real estate policy has emerged as a major social policy due to the recent rise in housing prices and the general public's interest in the wealth gap is increasing, this study examines the polarization phenomenon, which had previously been observed mostly in terms of income, from the perspective of assets. Since it is difficult to define what asset polarization is, we attempted to analyze the phenomenon of asset polarization based on the framework of analyzing income polarization, and also looked at the current status of distribution and disparity. Our analysis of the indicators showed that income polarization has decreased over time, especially in disposable income. To be sure, the disparities that still remain in market income require further examination from an income perspective that focuses more on gaps than on polarization. In contrast to income, indicators such as the asset Gini coefficient and the asset quintile ratio have increased in recent years in both total and net assets. We attempted to better understand the structure of asset polarization and gap using the asset composition ratio by quintile and drew some policy implications.

In this article, we look at the polarization of political and social participation in Korea. Previous related studies have addressed the polarization of the political left and right without taking into account the differences in political and social participation in relation to socioeconomic status. Using the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs’ “Social Participation, Capital, and Awareness Survey” data, we analyze the following dimensions of participation in relation to socioeconomic status: 1) participation in professional, regional, or civic groups and political parties; 2) voting; 3) willingness to express publicly in various ways “when the interests or rights of the individual or family are violated”; and 4) political efficacy. The analysis revealed that the willingness and frequency of political and social participation were relatively high in the highly educated and high-income groups, and the level of participation varied by area and between men and women. This analysis points to the need for additional research on political and social polarization. The necessity of strengthening grassroots democracy and reforming the electoral system is also emphasized.

False information and fake news about infectious diseases can be a huge threat, as they involve human lives and can cause a lot of social confusion. In fact, more than 800 people died around the world from January to March 2020 due to fake news related to COVID-19. In a sea of information, identifying fake news becomes increasingly important, and machine learning methods can be used as an effective tool for detecting fake news. This study employed exploratory data analysis to detect fake news related to COVID-19. Additionally, it looks at the potential difficulties and implications of employing machine learning to identify fake news.

Health literacy influences self-management of health, access to health care use, and interaction between health care providers and patients. It is also a major influencing factor in health behavior, health care use patterns, and health outcomes. This paper aims to introduce and analyze the health literacy survey conducted in 2021 as a supplement to the Korea Health Panel Survey. The results of the supplemental survey indicate that almost half of persons aged 19 and over find it difficult to access, acquire, interpret, and use the information and services they require to make informed health decisions and take appropriate actions. Furthermore, health literacy levels are even worse among vulnerable socioeconomic groups. To establish policies to promote health literacy, it is necessary to monitor health literacy levels among Koreans. We hope that the supplemental survey of the Korea Health Panel Survey, a nationally representative survey of health care utilization, expenditures, and comprehensive influencing factors such as socioeconomic characteristics, comorbidities, and health behaviors, will be widely used to provide empirical evidence for researchers and policy-makers.