South Koreans give themselves low scores on overseas travel etiquette and are most ashamed of being noisy in public places, a survey said Monday.

A poll conducted by Hankook Research on behalf of the Korea National Tourism Organization said South Koreans rated themselves 2.75 out of five on their trip manners, with 37.4 percent saying they lack appropriate etiquette. The survey covered 1,000 people aged 18 or over who had gone overseas between January and September this year.

Only 17.6 percent answered that South Koreans had good manners.

The most criticized behavior was being noisy in public places, which was cited by 19.2 percent of respondents. Another 14.9 percent were embarrassed about people engaging in sexual misconduct. Other answers included ignoring local manners at 13.7 percent and being patronizing to local people when visiting developing countries at 13.4 percent.

In addition, 5.9 percent criticized people taking hotel supplies or bringing food out of buffet restaurants, 5.3 percent didn't like cutting in line when boarding vehicles, 5.1 percent cited looking down on local people or culture, and 4.3 percent disliked travelers eating Korean food in their rooms. (Yonhap)