One in three South Koreans picked the outbreak of a new disease as the biggest source of social anxiety this year, a survey showed Wednesday, underscoring people's jitters over the new coronavirus pandemic.

The poll by Statistics Korea showed that 32.8 percent of those surveyed said they consider the outbreak of a new disease as the biggest threat to society, sharply up 29.9 percentage points from 2.9 percent tallied two years earlier.

Regardless of sex, age, education and income levels, the emergence of a new disease was chosen as the No. 1 factor that threatens society.

The survey showed unstable economic situations ranked second with 14.9 percent, followed by crimes with 13.2 percent.

The statistics agency conducted the biennial social survey on some 38,000 people aged 13 or older over family, education, crime and other social issues between May 13 and May 28.

The outcome reflects South Koreans' fatigue over the protracted COVID-19 pandemic since the country reported its first confirmed case on Jan. 20.

South Korea reported 313 more coronavirus cases, including 245 local infections, on Wednesday, raising the total to 29,311, according to health authorities.

Meanwhile, three in five South Koreans think that couples can live together without being married, the survey showed.

The poll said 59.7 percent of those surveyed support cohabitation, up from 56.4 percent tallied two years earlier.

Views for pro-cohabitation have been on the rise since 2012, when the corresponding rate came to 45.9 percent.

The survey also showed 30.7 percent think they can have a baby without being married, up from 30.3 percent in 2018.

The portion of South Koreans who think that marriage is necessary came to 51.2 percent this year, up 3.1 percentage points from two years ago.

But more Koreans have become open to divorce, with the portion of people who oppose divorce falling to 30.2 percent in 2020 from 33.2 percent in 2018, the survey said. (Yonhap)