Drinking hits record high
/ Yonhap
By Rachel Lee
Koreans are hitting the bottle at a record rate.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the monthly drinking rate was 60.8 percent of the population last year. In 2008, the figure was 54.1 percent. The ministry surveyed 220,000 people nationwide.
On the other hand, fewer people are smoking, with 24 percent of the population smokers in 2014, down 0.2 percentage points from 2013. In 2008, the rate was 26 percent.
The rate among men was 45.3 percent last year, down from 45.8 the previous year and 3.8 percentage points lower than in 2008.