This is the 3248th most frequent Korean word.
국민들을
"국민들을" means "the citizens" or "the people."
Here, '국민들을' is used as the direct object of the action '위해 복지 정책을 개선하였습니다,' meaning 'for the citizens.'
정부는 국민들을 위해 복지 정책을 개선하였습니다.
The government improved welfare policies for the citizens.
In this sentence, '국민들을' is the entity being protected, thus acting as the direct object in '보호하기 위해.'
국민들을 보호하기 위해 새로운 법안이 도입되었습니다.
A new bill was introduced to protect the citizens.
'국민들을' serves as the group that the leader is respecting and whose voices are listened to, functioning as the direct object in this context.