The average life expectancy of Korean women reached 85.5 years last year, making them the third longest-lived in the world.
But for Korean men the life expectance only stood at 78.8 and a middling 18th in the world. In terms of combined life expectancy Korea ranked 10th, but the 6.7-year gap between men and women was the biggest in the top 10.
A recent WHO report said women in Japan had the longest life expectancy with 86.8 years, followed by Singapore with 86.1, and Spain and Korea with 85.5. Next came France (85.4), Switzerland (85.3), Australia (84.8) and Italy (84.8).
In 2012, Korean women only had the seventh-longest life expectancy. The average life expectancy of Korean women increased 3.6 years from 2005 to 2014, while in European countries like Sweden and Estonia it rose just 1.2 to 3.5 years.
Swiss men were the longest-lived at 81.3 years, followed by Iceland (81.2), Australia (80.9), Sweden (80.7), Israel (80.6) and Japan (80.5).
Why the big gap between men and women in Korea? For one thing the death rate from cancer is 1.6 times higher than among women. The death rate from lung and stomach cancer among men is 2.8 and 1.8 times higher than among women.
"Cancer has a high correlation with smoking, and the difference reflects the smoking rate among men, the highest in the OECD," said Park Eun-cheol at Yonsei University College of Medicine.
Men's death rate from liver cancer and other liver diseases is three times higher than among women because men tend to exercise far less than women and are growing gradually more obese.
Men also drink and drive more than women, which means more die in traffic accidents, and they are more likely to commit suicide.
