A shopper looks at a selection of whiskey at a large discount supermarket in Seoul on Jan. 12, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The share of South Koreans who know that alcoholic beverages are a cancer-causing substance remains low at about 30 percent, a survey showed Tuesday.
According to a survey of 7,000 Korean men and women between the ages of 20 and 60 across the country conducted by the National Cancer Center, only 33.6 percent of the respondents indicated that they were aware that alcohol is a cancer-causing substance.
In contrast, the share of the respondents who said “yes” to a question asking if they knew that cigarettes can cause cancer was high at 88.5 percent.
At 46.9 percent, close to half of the respondents said that they thought one or two cups of alcohol had no impact on health.
Another 18 percent of the respondents said that they thought one or two cups of alcohol was good for their health.
In contrast to public awareness, alcoholic beverages, together with cigarettes, are classified as Group 1 carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The higher the level of income and education, the higher the share of alcohol drinkers. The lower the level of education, the higher the frequency of drinking.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
