Police officers examine illegal confiscated drugs at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, April 4. Yonhap

Three in 100 adults in Korea have tried illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and heroin at least once in their lives.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced the findings, Friday, after surveying 3,000 adults and 2,000 teenagers last year, at a time when the growing use of drugs, especially among younger generations, has become a major social issue in the country.

The survey showed that 3.1 percent of adults and 2.6 percent of teenagers had tried one or more of 13 kinds of illegal drugs.

Most of the respondents — 86.3 percent of adults and 70.1 percent of teenagers — said Korea can no longer be considered free from illegal drugs, as they can be obtained easily through acquaintances or via social media.

However, a slightly lower percentage of the respondents — 63.5 percent of adults and 67.6 percent of teenagers — said that they were aware of the risks posed by illegal drug use.

The ministry also included 10 drug-related questions in the survey, to which the respondents wrote wrong answers in two or three of the questions on average.

For instance, 51.7 percent of adults and 55.4 percent of teenagers incorrectly answered "true" to a true-or-false statement, "Drugs prescribed by a doctor are not categorized as narcotics."

The correct answer is "false" because some drugs such as zolpidem and propofol are categorized as narcotics although they can be prescribed by a doctor.

"Based on the results of the survey, we will expand drug rehabilitation infrastructure and relevant education, and strengthen drug control," a ministry official said.