1 in 5 Korean teenagers experiences cyberbullying: survey

More than 20 percent of teenagers in Korea have experienced online harassment, including bullying and verbal abuse, according to a survey the National Youth Policy Insitute released Sunday.

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In the survey, 20.1 percent of respondents admitted to being targeted with derogatory remarks, shunned or emotionally hurt in online spaces at least once over the past six months. Of them, 3 percent said they experienced such harassment over 10 times.

The institute surveyed a total of 1,038 teenagers, including 508 middle school students, 507 high school students and 23 out-of-school adolescents, in November.

In the survey, 12.2 percent reported persistent unwanted emails, messages or social media interactions.

Over 10 percent revealed instances of being prevented from exiting chat groups in KakaoTalk and other services. Another 10 percent said they were coerced into surrendering online gaming assets.

The report highlighted that 32.8 percent of victims identified their friends as the primary perpetrators, followed by strangers at 29.4 percent and individuals who they met online at 13.1 percent.

The proliferation of harmful content online was another concern raised in the report, with 61.5 percent of respondents expressing easy exposure to violent content on YouTube. Additionally, over half of the respondents reported encountering explicit content or hate speech targeting specific groups on that platform.

Teenagers who use smartphones for three to four hours a day during weekdays and six hours on weekends on average accounted for the highest portion at 21. 5 percent and 40.1 percent, respectively.

The survey's authors pointed out that adolescents from lower-income households with less parental involvement in their media consumption habits tended to spend more time on their devices.

"To minimize harm to adolescents from online harmful content, media literacy education should be conducted from an early age," the report said. "Simultaneously, AI technology should be utilized to block exposure to harmful content, and media education targeting parents should be strengthened."