President Yoon Suk Yeol presided over his administration's first meeting on social welfare on Wednesday and called for efforts to "marketize and industrialize" the programs.

Chairing the meeting at the guesthouse within the former presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae, Yoon said such welfare services must be fiscally sustainable and balanced so as not to hinder growth and development.

He said they must become more competitive and offer more freedom of choice through market competition, noting that the public is hardly aware of the one-thousand-odd programs handled by the central government and over ten-thousand run by local authorities.

Yoon stressed the need for mergers and consolidation to form a proper market, adding that cash handouts should be reserved for the most vulnerable in society.

The top office later presented a blueprint to streamline overlapping projects and expand social services to the middle class to achieve a sustainable cycle of welfare that boosts employment and growth.