Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Koreans spend most of free time watching online content, cut back on reading
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By Yi Whan-woo
Watching online content is the most frequent way Koreans spend their free time in 2025, with about 80 percent streaming regularly, a survey showed Tuesday.
The survey, released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, also found that fewer people are reading books compared to 10 years ago, with less than half engaging in the activity this year.
The 2025 survey, conducted from May 14 to 29, examined welfare, social participation, leisure, income and spending and labor for about 34,000 individuals aged 13 and above in 19,000 households nationwide.
The findings come as Koreans live longer and increasingly want to spend their post-retirement years pursuing hobbies, with 42.4 percent of respondents indicating this preference.
However, in reality, many spend much of their time on less productive activities.
A total of 85.9 percent of respondents reported watching online content on weekdays, compared with 75.6 percent on weekends.
With multiple answers allowed, these rates were even higher than those who reported doing nothing and fully resting, which stood at 71.5 percent on weekdays and 71.6 percent on weekends.
Computer games and internet browsing, grouped as one category, followed at 32 percent on weekdays and 25.6 percent on weekends, while hobbies and other self-development activities were much lower at 22.5 percent on weekdays and 18.5 percent on weekends.
As for reading, 48.7 percent of people engaged in the activity in 2025, down from 56.2 percent a decade earlier, while the average number of books read per person fell from 16.5 to 14.3 over the same period.
Regarding travel, the share of people taking overseas trips increased more than 30-fold, from 1.1 percent in 2021 to 31.5 percent, while domestic travel rose from 39.8 percent to 70.2 percent.
With the rise in travel, 73.5 percent of people used leisure facilities such as tourist attractions, forest parks, or beaches, returning to prepandemic levels. Additionally, 57.7 percent attended at least one cultural, artistic, or sports event, averaging 7.1 visits per year, reflecting a steady recovery in cultural participation.
Regarding retirement, 71.5 percent of respondents said they are making preparations, with the state-run National Pension being the most common method at 58.5 percent.
However, 58.4 percent of National Pension contributors feel the payments are burdensome relative to their income, compared with 55.3 percent of health insurance payers and 37.1 percent of employment insurance contributors.
Regarding social class perception, six out of 10 survey respondents considered their social and economic status to be middle class.
Meanwhile, 29.1 percent believe that through effort, their social and economic position is likely to improve within their generation, an increase of 2.7 percentage points from two years ago.
Among young people aged 13 to 34, the most desirable workplaces are large corporations (28.7 percent), followed by public enterprises (18.6 percent) and government institutions (15.8 percent).