Perceptions of Peer Sexual Activi ies in Korean Adolescents Gahyun Youn ‘Chonnam National University, Korea Sex is considered a private issue in Korean culture; thus, sexual topics are not usually discussed. The present study, which pointed to heterosexual relationships, explored perceptions of peer sexual activities among Korean adolescents. The three ‘main focuses of this study explore how many Korean adolescents in the 1990s were involved in misbehavior relating 10 sex; how they perceived their peer sexual activities, such as coitus, visiting prostitutes, or pregnancy; and how they perceived the coital wishes of date-initiators. Participants were recruited from seven high schools and five universities located in the south- western area of Korea, and consisted of 395 men and 392 women ranging from 15 to 22 years of age. Proportions of adoles- cents who had coitus were 24.3% for males and 10.5% for females. The perceptions of the peer sexuall activities and the coital wishes rere analyzed according to the respondents’ gender, school age, coital experience, smoking or drinking experience, or having a steady date. In general, mate adolescents were more liberal in their perceptions than females. High school students showed more liberal perceptions in peer sexual activities and date-initiator’s coital wishes than college students ‘Traditionally, until the 1960s, Korean people married during their teens or early twenties, unless men were serv- ing required military duty. Also, men typically postponed ‘marriage until they were in their mid 20s. Until the early 1960s, very few Korean brides and bridegrooms had ever met each other before their wedding day because their pa ents wholly controlled the mate selection process (Kim, 1999; Youn, 1998). Since the 1960s, most Korean adolescents have been in conflict with the standards of behavior that have been established by the adults. According to those standards, adolescents” smoking or drinking behaviors, having coitu: ‘or even meeting members of the opposite sex have been socially undesirable (Han, 1998). Among those behaviors, the adults have thought premarital sex the most undesir- able. Thus, most parents who have adolescent children hhave been disappointed with and/or worried about them when they knew their children were meeting members of the opposite sex (Kim, 1999) The disappointment and worry of Korean adults might be based on the belief that most adolescents who have been involved in smoking, drinking, meeting the opposite sex members, or having coitus would become failures in their lives. In addition, the belief has been much stronger when their children were daughters rather than sons (Kim, 1999; Lee & Chang, 1999), In general, there was significant over- lap involving the problem behaviors of adolescents such as smoking, alcohol use, drug use, and sexual behavior (Corwyn, Benda, Clowers, & Liu, 1999), In this article, ny heterosexual Korean cof Research, Development ‘and Research Training in Human Reproduction, World Heals Orztiaton, PRO- JECT No, 91207 BSDA. The author tanks the soy reviewers and te di ‘or for their helpful comments on eter drat of ths tc, Aires comespandace to Gatyon Youn, PhD, Department of Psychos ‘Chonan National University. 300 Yong, Kwang 500-757, Kore -mal youn chonsam chon a The Journal of Sex Research Volume 38, Numer, Novetaber 2001: pp adolescents in the 1990s have been involved in stich prob- Jem behaviors and how they perceive their peer sexual activities such as having coitus, visiting prostitutes, and getting pregnant, according to their experience with the problem behaviors." [also explore how they perceive the coital wishes about single males and femaies in familiar and unfamiliar dating relationships. In doing so, I gain new insights that are relevant to the development of the sex education program. Modernization of Korean Society When Korean society began to modernize during the late 1960s, the matrimonial age for most men and women increased. At the same time, some people whose education levels were higher than those of ordinary Koreans in the carly and mid-20th century began to dety the tradition of the mate selection process (Lee & Chang, 1999). That is, they sought a marriage based on love and personal selection rather than a marriage arranged by their parents. Korean society has changed significantly over the past three decades. As a consequence of these changes, more than half of the mate selections of women in their mid 20s and men in their late 205 that took place in the 1990s were largely free from parental control (Kim, 1999; Lee, 2000; Youn, 1996). As the modernization process began in the 1960s, high- cr education emerged as one of the most effective ways of attaining a higher socioeconomic status (SES) (ice., getting better jobs and meeting better spouses). The tendency to strive to enter elite universities became prominent as a ‘means of guaranteeing a successful future. Therefore, most Korean parents want their children to be superior students from the first grad to high school graduation. Also, ado- lescents who devote themselves totally 10 preparing for "Homo in 2000 escent ually was wet accepted yet Korea, Even « man wh came out puntered severe oaacin. This stay fecinad om heterosel ing ticked of inemation onthe paipans sexual oxentaton 3sYoun university entrance examinations have been considered the most desirable and loyal students, according to parental and societal expectations (Lee & Chang, 1999; Youn, 1998). Restrictions on Adolescent Sexual Acti Inaccordance with the Confucian doctrines, adolescent sex- ual behavior was severely restricted in Korean society. Traditionally, young boys were separated from young girls at the age of 7 to thwart their developing sexual interests. More restrictions were placed on the sexual activities of girls, than of boys (Kim, 1999; Lee & Chang, 1999; Youn, 1996). ‘Thus, Korean parents, who have followed the doctrines, still worry about the future oftheir children when they know that, their children are meeting members of the opposite sex or even going steady before taking the university entrance examination, Parents fear that any meeting of their children with members of the opposite sex could hamper prepara- tions for their examination and might lead to premarital sex- ual activities. In Korea, at least for the last 3 decades, an ado- escent who did not explore their sexvality until they went to college was viewed as being a person of sound mind and body (Lee & Chang, 1999: Youn, 2000) Greater individual freedom and responsibility are grant- ‘ed now to contemporary adolescents in their relationships with people of the opposite sex than they were in the past. However, any sex education for Korean high school ado- lescents, especially female students, mainly emphasizes keeping their virginity and protecting their bodies from sexual aggressors. Currently, the majority of Koreans believe in the importance of premarital virginity for females. Korean parents have shown more intolerance of the premarital sexual activities of their daughters than of their sons (Han, 1998; Lee & Chang, 1999; Youn, 1998). Most societies act as if the sexual drive of adolescents can be controlled easily. They expect the family to control the sexual expressions of youth until they are perceived to be adults and to be able to control their own activities in compliance with cultural mores (Anastasiow, 1983). In Korea, and similarly in Japan, one type of societal control is expressed in the form of the university entrance exami- nation (Hatano, 1991; Lee & Larson, 2000). Breaking Social Mores When adolescents enter college, societal and parental pressures are reduced. At this time, societal restraints against smoking, drinking alcohol, and meeting the oppo- site sex are somewhat relaxed, but more so for males than for females. For females, smoking is a stronger taboo than drinking; females have opportunities to drink alcohol in public, but they must smoke in secret (Youn, 1996), Most adolescent males in Korea have to serve over two years in the military. ‘They serve it either before or after graduating from college. While in the military, they are free from parental control. In addition, they have many chances to visit prostitutes during the service period. Many report doing so, often due to peer pressure (Chung, 1994), When they return to college, parents accept them as adults and minimize their attempts to control. Sexual activity for females, however, is as severely restricted as is their smoking; moreover, sexual activities for female adolescents are rated by a much stricter code than the one used for males (Youn, 1996). Nevertheless, contemporary Korean adolescents try not to fall under the control of their parents, teachers, and other authority fig~ ures. For example, some male adolescents visit prosti- tutes, and many high school students, especially males, smoke and/or drink alcohol. They also try to experiment in sexual activities when they are dating (Youn, 1998). ‘Sometimes their sexual experimentation extends to pet- ting or coitus, but the risk of getting pregnant is very high due to lack of using any contraceptive methods. As social mores do not accept adolescent sexual activity, there are few adolescents who use contraceptive methods because of the negative ideas associated with using them (Lee, 1996; Youn, 2000). Although 29.7% of the male adolescents reported that they had at some time purchased condoms through vending machines located in some public restrooms or motels, most of the adolescents purchased them out of curiosity and not for their health or birth con- trol. Namely, they did not use it for coitus, but either for masturbation or for playing with it to make a balloon, Only 6.4% of the coitally experienced male adolescents report- ced that they had ever used a condom for coitus. In addition, there have been very few female adolescents who used any contraceptive methods either through a physician’s pre- scription or purchase, even though legally there are no age limits for prescribing or purchasing them (Youn, 2000). ‘There are very few official records concerning rates of adolescent pregnancy. Even when these records do exist, the authorities concerned hesitate to inform the public because such data is contrary to Korean traditional moral codes. Although abortions have been illegal since the 1960s, there have been many Korean women who have had abortions. It has been estimated that about a third of all abortions in Korea are performed for teenagers (Hwang, 1990; Youn, 1996). ‘The female’s responsibility for an unplanned pregnan- cy tends to be culturally reinforced in Korea, Many female adolescents do not pay attention to contraception because they think they can easily choose abortion (Youn, 2000). Adolescent sexual problems that are considered to be social issues almost always have been related to adoles- cent childbearing and/or sexual aggression. Typically, some teenage girls who do not choose abortion but choose to give birth, surrender their babies to adoption agencies. AS a result, very few Korean adolescent mothers raise their babies (Youn, 1996). Research Questions and Hypotheses Sex is considered a private issue in Korean culture; thus, sexual topics are not usually discussed. However, many parts of Korean society have changed since the modem- ization began in the early 1960s. I doubt if the Korean ado- lescents in the 1990s, who have lived 3 decades since the