Sexual activities and attitudes of adolescent Koreans

Data regarding the sexual behaviors of 849 Korean adolescents (mean = 18.8 years) were collected. Behaviors reported for males vs. females were 36.5 vs. 27.0% for kissing, 27.2 vs. 14.8% for petting, and 22.9 vs. 9.8% for coitus. In addition to reporting a greater number of experiences, males reported a greater number of partners for all three behavior categories. Among those who participated in coitus, nearly one third of the males and two thirds of the females reported only one partner. Two thirds of the males considered their recent experiences with coitus to be satisfactory, whereas over half of the females gave a neutral response. About 37% of males and 55% of females reported that their most recent coital experience was less than a month ago. On average, the coitally active adolescents began sexual activity at about 18 years of age. Interpretations of these data must take into consideration the respondents' hesitancy in the Korean setting to admit to having sexual experiences. Because premarital sex for adolescents is considered very undesirable in the Korean social setting, the respondents' reporting bias might be in the direction of underreporting. Findings are discussed in the context of unplanned pregnancy and abortion.