Anchor: A new survey has shown that the amount of time that South Koreans spend per day on work and household chores fell below eight hours for the first time in years in 2014. While the number of hours devoted to work dropped, South Koreans were found to have spent more time to eat and sleep.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more on the latest analysis of South Koreans' use of time on a daily basis.

Report: South Koreans on average spend seven hours and 57 minutes a day for work, household chores and studying. 

Statistics Korea on Wednesday released the result of its time use survey for 2014, where South Koreans were found to have spent less than eight hours working for the first time since 1999.

While reducing the amount of time spent for the category, South Koreans in 2014 put in more hours for personal maintenance that includes sleeping and eating. Time for the category grew from ten hours and 18 minutes in 1999 to eleven hours and 14 minutes in 2014.

The statistics agency explained that the introduction of the five-day work week system in 2011 allowed South Koreans to catch up on more sleep and make time to exercise on Saturdays.
 
Hours that went into socializing with others and leisure activities, on the other hand, saw almost no change for 15 years as it fell by just one minute to four hours and 49 minutes in 2014 compared to 1999.

Meanwhile, the latest survey also showed that South Koreans spent an average one hour and 53 minutes watching TV on weekdays, and invested six minutes a day to read.

In the study conducted every five years, it found that an average South Korean youth runs on a tighter daily schedule with their leisure time declining by 18 minutes a day.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.