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The income gap between the top and bottom 10 percent of households in Korea last year exceeded 200 million won ($136,000) for the first time, while the disparity in assets between these groups grew to over 1.5 billion won, according to Statistics Korea, Sunday.

Polarization has continued to intensify each year, but discussions on policies to address it have been sidelined due to ongoing political turmoil. This instability began after President Yoon Suk Yeol's brief imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, which occurred just three weeks after he had identified tackling polarization as a key priority for the nation.

The Statistics Korea data showed that the annual average income of the top 10 percent of households stood at 210.5 million won last year.

This represents an increase of 13.04 million won, or 6.6 percent, from the previous year. This also marks the first time the figure has exceeded 200 million won since the statistics agency began compiling such data in 2017.

Meanwhile, the annual average income of the bottom 10 percent of households was 10.19 million won, an increase of 650,000 won, or 6.8 percent, from the previous year. However, this increase was insufficient to narrow the income gap.

The income disparity between the top and bottom 10 percent reached 200.32 million won, surpassing 200 million won for the first time since 2017 and setting a record high.

The widening income gap is attributed to the growing wage disparity between large corporations and smaller enterprises, as well as rises in property income, such as interest and dividends, among high-income earners.

The income disparity has also resulted in an increasing polarization of assets.

Last year, the top 10 percent of income earners held assets worth 1.62 billion won, more than 1.5 billion won higher than the bottom 10 percent, whose assets totaled 128 million won.

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Despite the growing polarization, there are still no policies in place to address the issue.

On Nov. 11, Yoon declared resolving income and education inequality as a key priority for the second half of his term. However, just three weeks later, he unexpectedly imposed martial law, throwing the political landscape into turmoil and prompting the National Assembly to pass an impeachment motion against him.

As impeachment proceedings are currently underway, discussions on solutions to narrow the gap have been completely sidelined and the government's economic policy direction for 2025 ultimately failed to include any substantial measures to address the issue.

Amid escalating political and social conflicts, the domestic market has slowed, causing the incomes of self-employed individuals and small business owners to stagnate.

Increased political uncertainties also led companies to scale back investments, inevitably resulting in a decline in wages.

Experts warned that worsening polarization could threaten social stability in the long term.

"It is an urgent task to create safety nets, particularly for low-income and vulnerable groups," said Kim Kwang-seok, head of economic research at the Institute for Korean Economy and Industry.

"Postponing structural and long-term issues will eventually render them unsolvable. While addressing political risks and urgent external matters is important, we must also continue to tackle structural challenges through a balanced approach."