Fewer and Fewer Koreans Study Abroad

The number of Korean students going overseas to study has dwindled for a third consecutive year, according to statistics from the Education Ministry.

Their number kept rising from 2008 to peak at 262,465 in 2011, but since then they have been on the decline, reaching 219,543 this year.

The figures also include exchange students, language learners and those on foundation courses.

The U.S. still topped the list as a destination for Korean students last year with 70,600 or 32.2 percent, followed by China with 63,400 or 28.9 percent and Japan with 17,200 or 8.3 percent.

Next came Australia (14,100 or 6.4 percent), Canada (9,800 or 4.5 percent), and the Philippines and the U.K. (7,000 or 3.2 percent each).

The numbers have dwindled in most countries, most drastically in the U.K. with a 44 percent drop from 2012 to 2013 and New Zealand with a 43 percent decline. But in the Philippines they rose about 2,000 on-year.

"It seems that an increasing number of parents feel they can't afford the cost of sending their children abroad after a protracted recession, while many college students are deciding not to go abroad because foreign diplomas or degrees are no longer the magic wand they used to be for finding decent jobs," a ministry official said.

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Koreans Spend 3.5 Hours a Day on the Phone

Koreans spend an average of three hours and 40 minutes per day on their smartphones, according to a survey. People in their 30s and 40s mostly play games while the young fritter away their time messaging.

The survey of 7,614 smartphone users by Digieco and Nielsen was published on Monday.

The smartphone era began in Korea in late 2009, when KT introduced Apple's iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Some 40.12 million smartphones were in use here at the end of October this year, with a proportion of 79.6 percent of the population owning at least one of the gadgets, the highest in the world.

People use smartphones 2.5 times as long as in March 2012. Use has soared since Kakao Talk began its games service in July 2012.

Those in their 20s are the most enthusiastic users with four hours and 41 minutes a day. Those in their 30s and 40s play games most often -- 30-somethings for 61 minutes a day and 40-somethings for 52 minutes a day on an average.

Twenty-somethings also use mobile messengers most often with 59.3 minutes per day, followed by teens with 42.3 minutes a day.

Patterns of use vary throughout the day. Most people play games right after lunch or dinner and do their mobile shopping before lunch.

Many play games more on weekends than during the weekdays (a daily average of 54 minutes), but use mobile messengers less at the weekend (a daily average of 30 minutes).

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