Students at a high school in Seoul wait in line to enter a cafeteria while keeping distance from each other on May 20, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Teenagers bought more liquor and cigarettes from convenience stores last year, data showed Thursday.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) collected statistical data from 60,000 middle and high school students, in which their level of access to cigarettes grew from 67 percent to 74.8 percent and liquor from 63.5 percent to 71.3 percent.
The rate of smoking and drinking among teenagers, however, was more or less the same.
Access to liquor among teenage boys grew by 5.3 percentage points, while it grew by 12.4 percentage points among teenage girls. Access to cigarettes among teenage boys grew by 5.4 percentage points, while it grew by 13.7 percentage points for teenage girls.
Sorted by age, the level of access to cigarettes among middle school students reached 55.1 percent, up by 15.7 percentage points, and liquor 48.5 percent, up by 12.4 percentage points.
“Everyone has been wearing protective masks, making it difficult for convenience store employees to determine their age. It must have been difficult for them to ask them to pull down their masks as well,” a KDCA official said.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
