Only 3 out of 10 South Koreans aged 65 and older think they are leading stable lives with economic independence, a report showed Tuesday. 

According to the report by the National Pension Research Institute, 32 percent of such elderly people said they are economically independent, while 65.7 percent said they are not. 

The report by a research team led by professor Lee Chong-ha of Induk University in Seoul also showed about 70 percent of the seniors were suffering from various chronic diseases.

About 10 percent said they had physical handicaps, while 89.5 percent replied they didn't have any. 

The report, based on a survey of 4,054 elderly people aged 65 and older -- 1,626 males and 2,428 females -- was designed to analyze the relationship between the economic situation and health of elderly people and their depression and satisfaction in life.

The report said that the economic situation and health conditions of elderly people influenced their state of depression and satisfaction in life.

The feeling of depression is low for those who have higher personal income and assets and receive sizable pensions and their satisfaction in life is high, it added.

South Korea's elderly poverty rate, meanwhile, is the highest among the 34 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, while the net pension replacement rate is very low.

According to a 2015 report by the Korea Labor Institute, the poverty rate for senior people in Korea was 47.2 percent in 2014.

The poverty rate refers to the rate of households that earn 50 percent or less of median household disposable income.

Despite South Korea's high poverty rate for elderly citizens, the country's net pension replacement rate for the elderly was 45.2 percent, far below the OECD average of 65.9 percent, as of 2012.

The net pension replacement rate is the level of the individual net pension entitlement divided by net pre-retirement earnings.

South Korea's high elderly poverty rate has been a headache for policymakers amid the country's rapidly aging population.

The country is already an "aging society" with 7 percent of the population over 65, and will become an "aged society" with 14 percent of all people over 65 in 2018. It is expected to become a "super-aged society" in 2026, when one-fifth of the population will be over 65. (Yonhap)