High school students favor teaching, gov't jobs: poll

Becoming a teacher or a civil servant is the most favored career path for South Korean high school students and their parents, a survey showed Tuesday, reflecting their desire for job security.

In a survey of 2,165 high school students across the country conducted by the education ministry, 11 percent selected teaching as their preferred future job, followed by civil service at 4.2 percent and the police force at 4.1 percent.

Explaining why they chose their future career paths, the respondents said they were influenced by their parents the most, followed by media, teachers and peers, while key factors also included their aptitude and talent, the survey showed.

In the same survey of 1,876 parents, 17.8 percent, the largest segment, preferred a government job for their children, with the next largest group of 16.9 percent wanting their offspring to become teachers. Becoming a doctor ranked third at 6.8 percent, while 4.4 percent said they would put their children's preference first.

"As unemployment has become a nagging social problem, not only a growing number of job seekers but also high school students are looking to the public sector. It is deemed to guarantee greater job security," said Kim Na-rah, an official at the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training.

The country's jobless rate reached 2.9 percent in November last year, but unemployment among those aged 15 to 29 for the same month was 6.8 percent, government data showed.