Koreans Spend 8 Hours Per Day Online
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The average South Korean spends more than half of his or her active
hours logged on to the Internet or using mobile digital devices, a
report said Thursday.
In a survey of 516 adults, the state-run Korea Information Society
Development Institute (KISDI) found that Koreans spend an average of
eight hours and 20 minutes per day online, either through computers or
portable data devices such as mobile phones and laptops.
Considering that they needed about seven hours and 40 minutes to sleep
and eat, it could be said that Koreans are wired for more than half of
their 16-plus hours awake.
When adding the time spent on television, radio and fixed-line
telephones, the average Korean spends about 12 hours and 45 minutes
using digital media services daily.
In comparison, Koreans spend less than 20 percent of their active hours
on offline activities and just a tick above 5 percent in reading
newspapers or magazines, it said.
``The changes in the media environment, including the diversity of
mediums following technological advancement, has been changing the
patterns of media consumption,'' said a KISDI official.
`` These changes should be better reflected in media policies, which
should have their paradigm shifted and focused around users. We also
need a division of power in our regulatory framework in governing the
different types of media.''
Desktop computers remain the center of the online experience, as
Koreans spend more than 42 percent of their active hours using them,
and 14.6 percent of their active hours watching television, including
digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) provided on handsets.
Time spent on mobile phones and laptop computers accounted for about
10.4 percent of the waking hours, while time spent on using fixed-line
phones and listening to radio combined for less than 10 percent.
Korea has one of the world's most advanced information and
communication environments, with a household Internet penetration rate
of more than 80 percent and advanced media services such as DMB mobile
television, Internet protocol television (IPTV) and WiBro wireless
Internet services, a local variant of mobile WiMAX.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
Q: How much time do you spend online per day? And What do you do usually with it?
No Smoking Zones Expanded
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Smokers in Seoul will have fewer places to smoke, as the city is moving
to designate parks and all other public places as nonsmoking areas.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday that it plans to assign
outdoor public places including plazas, streets and schools, as
nonsmoking areas and will issue related regulations soon.
The ordinance, aimed at protecting nonsmokers from unwanted cigarette
smoke, will not be legally binding nor will fines be imposed on smokers
who violate it.
It will be a recommendation that provides the basis for provincial
governments to take various steps to curb smoking in public places.
``The measure is to prevent inhalation of second hand smoke and
appreciate the health rights of nonsmokers,'' Cho Eun-hee, the
assistant mayor of Women & Family Policy Affairs said. ``Since
there are insufficient legal restrictions on smoking, citizens'
participation and responses are the most important factors for the
success of the policies,'' the official said.
According to a survey by the municipal government, 97 percent of
participants said they are willing to refrain from smoking when there
is a nonsmoking sign and it leads to not having a smoke in front of
other people.
The city will designate major plazas such as Seoul Plaza, Gwanghwamun
Square and Cheonggye Plaza and 16 major streets in Seoul as nonsmoking
areas with no smoking sign-marked footpaths.
Restaurants in Seoul will be asked to set up separate smoking and
nonsmoking areas. Under current law, only restaurants larger than 150
square meters are obligated to part the sections. The metropolitan
government will give incentives to small eateries that separate smoking
and nonsmoking areas.
Seoul will reduce the side effects of second hand smoke on teenagers by
designating areas around elementary, middle and high schools as
nonsmoking zones.
Registration for nonsmoking apartment complexes will be expanded as
well, particularly for apartments built by Seoul Housing Corporation.
Meanwhile, community areas such as hallways, staircases, playgrounds
and parking lots are going to be smoke free.
Taxis must post no smoking signs and prohibit smoking, and the city will remove trash bins from bus stops to discourage smokers.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
73 Percent of Foreigners Think Seoul Is Expensive
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
A growing number of foreigners believe overall prices in Seoul are
expensive. A Seoul Metropolitan Government survey showed that 73
percent of foreigners living in Seoul think prices are high, a sharp
gain from 47 percent the previous year.
By category, 66 percent said housing costs were expensive, according to the survey of 1,000 expatriates last October.
As of the end of 2008, 255,207 non-Koreans are living in Seoul,
compared with 258,896 three months earlier. Ninety percent of
foreigners are from Asia, with Chinese accounting for 76 percent.
They replied they spend an average 28 percent of their income for the
education of their children here. Forty-five percent of foreigners
living with their children thought living in Seoul was good for their
education, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
Overall satisfaction with living conditions has risen. The residential
and cultural environment, and safety earned high satisfaction levels.
But the economic environment, foreign language signs at facilities and
the level of foreign language use in administrative services were low.
The most source of information gathering for non-Koreans was the
Internet, with 42.6 percent. About 27 percent said it was difficult to
obtain information because of the language barrier and information
inaccuracy.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
South Korea's low birthrate |
