The government will offer a helping hand to low-income earners. Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said his ministry will reflect measures to tackle a drop in income for low income earners and deterioration in income distribution when making next year's budget and tax policies.  

Kim made the comment while chairing a meeting on the topic of income disparity at the Seoul Government Complex on Thursday.

The minister-level meeting was held after President Moon Jae-in asked officials to come up with measures to counter widening income inequality and a decline in earnings of the low income class last month. 

According to data by Statistics Korea, the nominal income for the bottom 40 percent of households recorded the steepest plunge in the first quarter.

The Thursday meeting was attended by senior presidential secretary for economic affairs Hong Jang-pyo and related ministers, including Minister of SMEs and Startups Hong Jong-hak.