Koreans find their constantly buzzing smartphones disorienting, according to a report by the Korea Press Foundation on Wednesday.

The KPF surveyed 1,040 employed Koreans over a course of four days between March 17 and 21, regarding their “rights to disconnect.” 

According to the survey, 62.3 percent of the respondents felt that smartphone connectivity added to their workload. Among them, 57.6 percent singled out mobile messenger apps such as KakaoTalk and Line as the prime culprit. Other 23.1 percent put the blame on social media, including Facebook, Kakao Story, Instagram and more, while 17.3 percent picked regular calls and text messages, and 2 percent email.

Majority of the respondents -- 86.7 percent -- agreed that their rights to disconnect from work-related messages after official working hours should be acknowledged and respected.

However, 55.7 percent of the same group doubted any real change will occur even if there is a law. 

Taking the matters into their own hands, 41.3 percent said they have canceled membership on social media and mobile messengers, while 22.1 percent said they use a separate cell phone for work.

A total of 74.9 percent intentionally did not check their messages, while those who purposefully avoided calls or ignored missed calls came up to 73.8 percent. Some 72.7 percent checked but did not reply to messages.

The survey has a 3.1 percent margin of error.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)