Smoking rate reached 47.3% for males in 2011

Despite the government's non-smoking policy, the smoking rate among South Korean adults remained nearly unchanged for the fourth consecutive year in 2011, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Sept. 1.

The rate stood at 47.3 percent for males and 6.8 percent and females, respectively, according to the report.

The rate for males decreased from 66.3 percent in 1998 to 45 percent in 2007. Since then, the rate hovered 47-48 percent, while that for females reached 5-7 percent.

The disease control agency has set a goal of reducing the smoking rate to 29 percent for males and 6 percent for females in 2020.

The rate for low-income people was higher than that for high-come adults, and rate for people with a low education background was higher than those with a high education background, the report said.

By Josephine Liu Yan Yee

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com