South Korea's older generation feels closer to their friends and neighbors, relying on and seeing more of them compared to their siblings, a survey showed Tuesday.

The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs polled 1,500 people aged 35-69 for a month from Aug. 9 last year and found that 62.5 percent of them had friends and neighbors who would help them at unexpected times of need. This compares with 56.1 percent who said the same of their brothers and sisters. According to the findings, 16.1 percent said they wouldn't be able to ask their siblings for help.

The polled group also saw more of their friends and neighbors than their siblings. When asked on the frequency of contacting and seeing their brothers and sisters over the past year, 30.8 percent answered once a month, and 22.4 percent said about once every three months. Overall, 62.9 percent made contact at least once a month.

In comparison, 31.6 percent said they saw their friends and neighbors once a month. Another 30.2 percent said they saw them every week. On average, 79.9 percent of them were in contact with friends and neighbors each month. (Yonhap)