The smoking rate among men dropped from 51.6 percent in 2005 to 48.3 percent in 2010, but more than one in every 10 teenagers still smokes, according to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The rate among middle and high school students who smoked more than once over the 30 days prior to the annual KCDC survey has remained steady at around 12 percent since 2007. The figure was even higher among boys at 17 percent last year.
What is more worrisome is increasing number of smoking teenagers. The rate of those who smoked every day for 30 days prior to the survey rose more than 1.5 times from 3.9 percent in 2005 to 6.1 percent last year. Last year some 2.8 percent said they smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day.
Some experts blame the social environment where many adults can be seen smoking in the street and cigarettes come in garish packets.
According to last year's survey, 39.6 percent of teenagers said they saw family members or guests in their home smoke over the last week, informs The Chosunilbo.
"Adolescents tend to imitate adults or celebrities," claimed Lee Hae-kook of Catholic University College of Medicine. "If they smoke in adolescence, when the brain develops, teenagers can get seriously addicted to nicotine and also easily fall victim to other addictions like alcohol or gambling."
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