S.KOREA NEEDS WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION SAYS TOP ADVISER.

SEOUL, Dec 1 Asia Pulse - South Korea needs to go forward with the redistribution of wealth in economic policy to narrow the widening gap between rich and poor, but should pay more attention to growth, a top policy adviser to President Roh Moo-hyun said Wednesday.

"In the past 40 years, the redistribution issue was not a big deal in our economy because rapid economic growth created jobs that were enough to help offset the poverty problem," said Lee Jung-woo, chief presidential secretary for national policy, in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.

"However, signs of a problem have been emerging recently because economic growth has not been linked to job creation," Lee said. "So-called jobless growth has begun prompting the uneven distribution of wealth to deepen."

The inequality is going to get wider as the economy continues its march toward meeting the demands of globalization amid growing uncertainty over the global economic climate, Lee said.

"The economic turmoil since the (1997 Asian region) crisis has been the cause of the widening gap between rich and poor," he said.

"If this jobless economic growth continues in the next couple of years, then there could be a further increase in inequality," Lee said.

Roh, a former human rights lawyer, has often put a policy focus on the importance of wealth redistribution, a stance criticized by some media and businesses as meaning that his administration is left-leaning in economic philosophy.