Koreans Spending More Time on Culture Activities

By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

Koreans have been spending more time enjoying concerts and other cultural activities in recent years.

According to a joint survey by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute (KCTI), 30 percent of Koreans went to art exhibitions in 2008, a sharp gain from 9 percent in 2007. They surveyed 3,000 Koreans over 10 years of age.

The portion of people who watched plays and musicals increased to 21 percent in 2008 from 12 percent the previous year, and those having visited museums grew to 28 percent from 17 percent in 2007.

"Koreans are increasingly turning to cultural needs from daily necessities", said Yoon So-young of the KCTI. "More families are going to theaters to educate their children".

Outdoor activities like camping and rafting became more popular as well.

However, the biggest time killer, watching television or listening to radio, fell to 86 percent from 95 percent in 2007.

Average daily spare time on weekends was six hours and 27 minutes, about an hour increase from the previous year.

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