Biotech Updates

Koreans Have High Level of Awareness on Biotech

October 12, 2007

People in Korea have a high level of awareness about biotechnology, one of the highest reported worldwide. The level of apprehension over biotechnology  is at 50%, down from 81% in 1999. Correspondingly, acceptance level of the Korean public is now at 45%, up from only 24% in 1999. These results were highlighted in a perception study in Korea, presented by Maria Excelsis Orden of the Central Luzon State University, Philippines during the international workshop on Public Perception of Agricultural Biotechnology in Lima, Peru.

Orden also said that Koreans were apprehensive about the risks on toxicity, effects on the environment and biological diversity. They also indicated a willingness to pay more for non-genetically modified foods. However, there were indications of more positive perceptions over time.

Email Maria Excelsis Orden at maecelsis@yahoo.com for more details of her study.